


A Sword Over a Coward's Kiss

by haisai_andagii



Category: Batman (Comics), Superman (Comics), Superman/Batman (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-20
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-01-15 15:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1309195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haisai_andagii/pseuds/haisai_andagii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After spending 16 years of his life watching the world from LexCorp Corporate Park, Lex Luthor sends his superpowered son - Kon-El Luthor - to stay with his childhood friend, Bruce Wayne, in an effort to integrate him into the "human world."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Them

**Author's Note:**

> \- Clark and Conner Kent DO NOT exist in this universe. It's only "Kal-El and Kon-El/Conner Luthor." In fact, neither of them have met or will ever meet the Kents. 
> 
> \- In fact, there is NO SUPERMAN either.
> 
> \- Lena Luthor is alive and well and Lex's biological twin sister in this AU. They are both in their early 20s. 
> 
> \- Mercy Graves was taken in by Lionel rather than Lex. As in the comics, she is an Amazon. She in her late 20's.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: I change the content of my chapters A LOT. I didn't really plan out much of this story, so I am literally writing it as I go along/feel like it. I will make it more coherent when it's finished.

Their attire was entirely too cheery for a funeral. Lena wore a robin's egg sundress; Lex donned his usual green and purple tee; Mercy sported her sleek black suit with a pair of violently red heels.  They stood – all lined up in a perfect row under their umbrellas, the summer rain fell from a slate sky – and watched the casket sank into the earth.  It splashed down none too gently as mud marred the beauty of its ivory casing.

The priest read his prayer while stopping occasionally to wipe rain-flecked spectacles against his tattered stole when he could no longer see.  He sputtered through God’s word with his high-pitched, aged voice that caused the three to grind their teeth with each word:    

_O God, by whose mercy the souls of the faithful find rest;_

_mercifully grant forgiveness of their sins to Thy servants and handmaids,_

_and to all here and elsewhere who rest in Christ:_

_that being freed from all sins,_

_they may rejoice with Thee for evermore._

_Through the same our Lord._

No sooner then when he finished, Lena stepped forward.  She bowed her head in seemingly quiet contemplation as she inched her way to the grave's edge.  Mercy touched her shoulder tenderly.   Her brother Lex offered a wry smile.  Then, she cleared her pale throat and spat out a great glob of spit.  White and frothy, it fell gracelessly against the casket with a wet thump. Lex laughed, the fug of his breath melting into the lingering fog.   Horrified, the priest hastily tucked his tome under his arm and shuffled back to the rectory without another word.

  
“Honestly,” Mercy chided, a faint hint of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she shooed them towards the parking lot.  

 It did not take long for them to find their car and the children climbed into the back, while their bodyguard sat in the driver’s seat. They pulled off an again through the wrought-iron gates. Lex shifted in his seat and looked out the rear window. Tombstones lined the hills like rows of crooked teeth.

“Cut that out,” he heard Lena say.   She ran her freshly painted nails along a small run in her stocking. “Don’t give _him_ that courtesy.”

 He said nothing - even though he had plenty to say. Lex let the rhythm of the rain-slick road slipping under their tires substitute their conversation.   He leaned his hairless head against the window, watching dreary skyline grow larger as they sped towards Metropolis.  Lush foliage gave way to spires of concrete and steel as they crossed over the bridge to New Troy.

When they entered, they saw it. For the first time, Lex realized – even though he felt quite differently about the whole ordeal – that Metropolis was in mourning. 

There were holograms of the man everywhere - at every bus stop, in every store front window, on every billboard.  Some broadcasted his life story: how this "country boy from Kansas" rescued them his unrivaled technological genius.  He rescued Metropolis and transformed it into that shining beacon of hope known as City of Tomorrow.  His wealth became their wealth; his success became their success; his might became their might.   The city became a place where people could dream again and one man made it all possible.  
  
"If only they knew..." Lex groused, kicking the seat in front him.  

"Maybe it's best if they don't," Mercy muttered.  She signaled left.  "He meant a lot to many people."

His sister snorted, her lips twisted into a half sneer as she turned her attentions to the run in her stockings again. It was bigger now.  
   
Lex shrugged and sank further down into his seat, feeling the cool of the leather against the back of his skull.  
   
Metropolis was in mourning. Lionel Luthor was dead. And the man’s own children did not give a damn.

After a few minutes, Mercy slowed and pulled to a stop by brownstone. It was somewhat worn as everything else in New Troy was. She cut the ignition and climbed out. She opened the door for the children and they clambered out onto the curb.   They scurried to into the brownstone’s lobby to escape the rain.

Mercy tapped her finger against the directory. She took off, her red heels echoing across the marbled corridor. They followed her until they reached the last door at the end of the floor. “Wynman, Esq.” was written across the smoky glass in peeling, gold lettering.

They went inside and were created with endless stacks of file boxes.

“Gerald?” Mercy called out. “Are you here?” The twins exchanged a curious glance as the… rustling could be heard in the corner. An old man hobbled out, leaning heavily on a warped cane.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said, his wizen voice filled with casual indifference. “I heard Lionel had died on the radio. These must be his children then?”

He turned and hobbled away, disappearing behind his mountains of boxes. The three eventually found him sitting a desk. He bade them to sit with a wave of his wrinkled hands.

“Your father was an interesting one,” he said as they took their seats. “In fact, I remember when he-“

“Just get on with it,” the girl grumbled as she sank into the dusty chair next to her brother. She snatched up a stray business card from his desk and began to run her lemon-colored nails across it.

Gerald coughed into his wrinkled fist and began to read. Lionel had felt quite a bit of money left to the Letitia Luthor Ovarian Cancer Foundation. His secretary Hope got his yacht – she and their father one spent so much time on during their mother’s hospitalization. Mercy Graves received a number of Lex Corp shares for her years of dedicated service, as well as additional funds to continue to retain her as a bodyguard for his children.  
   
“As for my beloved children,” he droned on. “I hereby bequeath unto my only daughter, Lena Letitia Luthor, I leave control of Lex Corp to be turned over to you once you've graduated from Harvard Business School."

She rolled her eyes.

“Of course he goes and gives me the biggest ball-and-fucking-chain,” she half-growled as she tossed the shredded business card onto the floor. “And Lexy?”

   
“Just give it away whatever is it,” Lex muttered.  “I don't want it.”

   
"Well, your father left you this," Gerald continued.   He rummaged through his briefcase until he produced a small manila envelope in his weathered hands.   He slid it across the polished table, stopping just over the edge.  Gingerly, Lex turned it over in his hands. He saw some numbers written across its flap in his father's spidery scrawl: _2341940_

  
He opened it.  Inside was a key card - thin, smooth and so black it absorbed the light of the room.   Lex looked up, feeling the weight of everyone's eye burrowing into his bald head.  

Automatically, he looked to Mercy. She had been Lionel’s bodyguard long before she he assigned her to guard them. But the woman stared back at him through the impenetrable dark of her sunglasses.   She adjusted them slightly, pushing them up the bridge of her nose before her fingers disappeared beneath her shirt collar.   She pulled out a similar black card attached to red lanyard.  Lex inhaled sharply, his heart thrumming wildly as tightness filled his chest.  
   
"H-how did you-?"

"It doesn't matter," she said.  "We should go. Goodbye, Gerald."

“Yes, yes,” the old man mumbled as Mercy rested a generous-looking check on the desk between them.

Everything after that was a blur: She shooed the twins out of the office and into the car again. In minutes they returned to LexCorp Park. Workers and servants clamored to offer their condolences, but Mercy chased them off as she half-dragged the twins into the lobby.

“No disturbances,” she barked at the security personnel waiting for them in the elevator bank. They nodded as the others strode by him.

“Where are we going _now_ , Mercy?!” snapped Lena as the woman herded them into an open elevator. “Can’t whatever nonsense Dad had for Lex wait until tomorrow?”

“No,” came the woman's monosyllabic reply as the doors slid shut. “Lex, take out your card, please.”

The boy hesitated. Slowly, he pulled the envelope from his back pocket. Mercy shunted forward and snatched it from his hands.

“W-what are you doing?“ Lex stammered as the woman torn it open and shook the card onto the elevator floor. She stooped loop and swiped it up. Mercy then pressed the card against the security pad.  There was a series of beeps before the screen above it prompted it for pass code.  Mercy read the envelope and entered the numbers. 

They held their collective breaths as the code disappeared and the word “accepted” flashed once. The cables clanked and whorled to life as the elevator ascended.

Lena sucked her teeth.

“I swear to God,” she hissed. “If we get killed over Dad’s secretive bullshi-“

"It's not your lives that I am worried about," Mercy replied coldly, cutting her off.   And then, the lights went out.

"W-what's happening?" Lex shouted as he groped blindly in the dark.

"We're nearly there," Mercy answered over their panicked whispers.  Before either twin could ask, the elevator slowed to a stop.  A ding sounded.  As the doors began to open, a warm vermilion light filled the car.

"Are these..." Lex started, craning his neck to inspect the lights overhead, as they exited.  "Red spectrum... sunlamps?"

"What's down here that needs something like this?" Lena muttered, her voice quavering slightly. Mercy brushed past them and into the hall.

"Come," she said simply. "And you can see for yourself."

For the second time that day, the twins followed Mercy down another…

They passed many rooms, lined with wall length observation windows. One room held what looked like some sort of alien pod - large and looming. It seemed to take up much of the room itself.  From what Lex could see, the outside was decorated with strange etchings. They saw a hologram - like the one's Lionel invented- projecting from a crystal. It was a man, bearded and gray and sorrowful.  Lex swore his eyes followed them when they walked by.

They arrived at their destination - the last door at the very end. 

"Alexander," Mercy spoke as she punched several numbers on a small keypad above the lock.

"Go in.  Your sister and I will be here. I need to gather some things before we go back home."

"And what are they?"  But his question went unanswered as Mercy moved to cup his face between her fingers.  
   
"Lex," she said softly.  "Lex, your father has done unforgivable things, especially, to you two.  But what's in this room is more important than that or your anger."  
   
"B-but I am n-not angry."  
  
"That's a lie."  She placed a kiss atop his head.  "You don't have to forgive him.  You don't have to forgive me." She pressed the key card into Lex’s hands and moved back.  
   
"M-Mercy,” Lena whimpered. “…you're scaring us..."

"I know."  Her fingers trembled faintly as she removed her shades.  Her eyes were glassy under the vermillion light.  "I am sorry."

She took the girl’s hand and led her away. Lex swallowed thickly, as the sound of her heels faded away. Carefully, he pushed the door open, closing it behind him as Lena shouted after him.

The room was small.  A large bed sat in the very center. And on that bed, there was a little boy - no older than two or three years old - bouncing a plush dog along a shape obscured by the dark duvet.  He was singing in a language different from any Lex had ever heard.

The boy froze, his toy slipping when he realized Lex had entered.  He looked up at him.  Lex held his breath.  The boy's eyes were glowing and impossibly blue under the red light.   The child shouted something in that unfamiliar tongue, causing shape to stir.  The duvet fell away and Lex saw another boy - older, closer to his own age, with the same fiercely glowing eyes.   Almost immediately, they scrambled from the bed to kneel on the ground, pressing their heads down until they touched the tile.  The little one struggled - wiggling about until the elder gently placed a hand on his head to hold him still.

And that is when Lex truly saw them.  They were thin - horrendously thin - with bones jutting out of their equally thin garments at dangerous angles.  Wrapped around their necks were thick, dual black bands, barely concealed by their threadbare shirt collars.  
   
Nausea swept through Lex's body.  His vision blurred and the room began to sway.  His knees went weak and he knelt hard onto the floor, clutching his frantic heart.  The key card fell from his trembling hands, landing by the prostrating children.

The little one looked up, his eyes shimmering in the crimson light, and scrambled to his feet.  Ignoring the elder's protests, he seized the card in his tiny hands.  Slowly, the boy held it out for him to take. 

"Dad," Lex croaked, looking up the child – his blue eyes piercing through the red haze - beamed down at him. “W-what the hell is this?”


	2. Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages Update: 
> 
> Lex and Lena are in their early 30s. Kal is in his late 20s.
> 
> Kon is now sixteen.
> 
> Mercy is pushing 40.

A flock of seagulls swooped past, the flutter of their wings and their cries echoing in the predawn as Metropolis began to stir.  The winds raced across the bay as the sun crept over on the horizon.   Kon closed his eyes for a moment as the light washed over him, his body thrumming with warmth and energy.

It was perfect. 

He shoveled a spoonful of sugary cereal in his mouth as the early morning light washed the city in gold.

From his perch on top of the “L” of LexCorp logo, Kon could see everything. And he loved nothing else than to watch Metropolis: He watched the people as they filed out from their high-rise homes and into the city streets.  He watched the cars as they weaved in and out along the streets, filling the air with their angry shouts and car horns.  He watched as the children ran through the Queensland Park. Kon watched the jump and shout and swim and run and climb and-

Coldness blossomed in his belly. Kon pulled his pajama collar high on his neck.  A lone gull cawed meekly, its beady eyes staring longingly at the now-soggy cereal.  He offered up his bowl.  The gull rooted around, its beak splashing milk onto his fingers as it seized a few brightly color nuggets.

  
"Kon!"

A scolding shout pulled him from his reverie. Kon set the bowl aside for his avian friend and peered over the edge. He found Aunt Lena glaring up at him from the rooftop patio below. Her arms were crossed over the lapels of her intimidating grey suit.

“I’ll be back for this later,” he muttered to the gull. “Enjoy.” Wiping his milk stained lips on the back of his pajama sleeve, Kon shoved himself off of his perch and floated down.

“Mornin’,” he mumbled as he landed.

“Happy Birthday, Kon.”

“Thanks.”

"That said," she said, her tone clipped. "I see you've started the day by devouring an entire box of cereal. Again."

"Yep," he returned sheepishly.  "I am a growing, half-alien boy."

"And I see you decided to use your telekinesis on the toaster too," Lena chided, taking him by the shoulders and pushing him in the direction of the penthouse.  "Stop using your powers to make breakfast.  You're costing us a small fortune in kitchen appliances, Konnie…"

  
"It was like that when I found it this morning!" he returned, cheeks puffed in mock anger.  "And my name is Kon!"

"Your name should be 'Trouble.'" She led them into the kitchen and made straightway for the espresso machine.  "Fix the toaster and get ready. Serling and Amanda are expecting you at 0700 sharp."

Kon grumbled as he tapping his finger against dismantled toaster as he strode past.  It shuddered, jumped. Each and every component shot up into the air, slowly rotating around one another before crashing back together – resembling itself in an oddly soothing, linked rhythm.  Lena watched over the rim of her coffee mug. And, when it was all over, a newly reconstructed toaster landed on the marble counter top with a soft thud.

"Oh, look at that!" Lena exclaimed, as she slid in bagel half into one of the slots.

“You’re welcome!” the boy shouted as he stomped off to his room.

~~~

Kon showered quickly and pulled on his containment suit. It was gaudy – a red and blue bodysuit that Amanda designed for him. She thought he looked “smart.” Kon felt like a rejected member of The Justice League.   

He stuck his tongue out at himself as he jogged past the mirror and out the door. He slipped into the kitchen to grab something else to eat on his way over to the R&D when he heard it. It was faint. A soft hitch of breath coming from the breakfast nook. Carefully, Kon crept towards the door and peered around its frame.

He leapt back instantly and crept down beneath the counter, pressing his body against the cabinet doors. He focused. The hushed voices became clear and crisp as if Kon was standing right beside them.

“It’ll only before the summer,” he heard Lex - er, his Dad - mutter.

“I don’t trust that man…” Kal - well, Pa - replied.  "He's no better than..."

Kon stared at the wall. Slowly, it began to melt away, revealing his parents sitting at the breakfast nook table. Pa stared absently, listening to the measured clink of the sterling silver spoon against his mug. 

“He uses us - _me_ ,” Kal said softly, his tone bitter, weary. “All we do is test weapons for Wayne. He even wanted me to be one.”

“It was not like that at all.”

“He collected those metahumans and aliens and amazons so he can watch over them - control them, Lex…”

“Darling, please…” Lex rested his hand on top of Kal’s fist. His Pa jerked it away, fingers gripping the table’s edge tightly.  Dad sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and drew in a deep breath before continuing.

"It's spacious, secluded, and most importantly, safe."  Lex rested several print-outs of a stately mansion on the table in front of him. He fanned them out but Kal looked away.

"That's _not_ the issue!" the Kryptonian hissed, tracing the red lines running parallel across the column of his throat. “We’re far too strong, too fast to be among other humans-“

"...which is exactly why Kon-El needs to stay with them!" Lex countered, slamming his fist against the table.  " _Our_ little boy has been working toward this. We can’t expect him to live out his life on the compound, Kal!"

"How d-dare you,” Pa stammered, his voice thick, unsteady. He set the cup down roughly on top the pictures.  Coffee sloshed onto them, causing the color on the prints to run. “You don’t think I know that? I want this for him too but not this way! I have been obedient and loyal and-“

“You shouldn’t spy on others.” A voice echoed loudly in his ears causing wall slipped back into place – solid and impenetrable once more.

Kon jumped and fell hard onto his bottom. As he scrambled to his feet, he hit his shoulder against the counter edge. A piece broke off and landed into Mercy’s outstretched hand. She stared down at him through those damnable shades.

“Happy birthday,” she said, a slight smirk pulling on her red lips.

“Gee, thanks” he hissed, his fingers running along a slight tear on his shoulder seam.

“Kon?”

He swiveled on his heel and saw his parents standing in the door frame. Lex – Dad – was staring at him curiously, his thick fingers tapping on his the face of his watch as he held his wrist high.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the lab meeting Spence and Roquette, young man? It’s five to seven.”

“S-sorry,” the boy stuttered. “I… I just want to get something quick before I went over…” His eye flitted over to Pa, who kept his red-rimmed eyes trained on the tiled floor. Kon snatched an apple from a nearby fruit bowl. “I’ll be going…”

“We’ll see you tonight!” he heard his Dad shout after him as he sped from the kitchen.

“Sir.”

“Yes, Mercy,” Lex replied as Kal squeezed behind him and into the kitchen.  He watched him walk over to the sink, his shoulders knitted together. "C-can this wait?"

She shook her head.

“Mr. Wayne has arrived. Your sister is currently sitting with him in her office. She requests your immediate presence.”

Kal scoffed.

“By Rao,” he half-growled as he looked sharply at Lex over his shoulder.  “Glad to see you’ve already made up your mind without me then.”

Lex parted his lips to speak but fell back as a great rush of air swept past him. The coffee mug spun on its edge on the counter - its spoon clanging loudly as it was thrown around inside.


	3. Weight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: More edits and story changes.

Kon hissed through clenched teeth as he precariously balanced five tons on his young shoulders. 

"C-Can we stop, Serling?" the boy panted at a bespectacled, blonde woman who was furiously taking notes at his side.  

"That's Dr. Roquette to you,” she chided in her usually business-like tone as she ran her stylus across her tablet with blinding speed. “Now, concentrate and lift with your knees."

Kon’s nostrils flaring as he drew in a deep, shaky breath and strained upwards. He raised the weights high above his head until the rested on the flat of his palm.

“Good,” Serling said as she peered at him over the rim of her of glasses.  She wrapped her fingers around red button pinned to her lapel and gave it a squeeze:  "Dr. Spence, Please adjust the weight by one more." 

She looked up at the sound of an affirmative wrap against the observation window above them.  She could see Spence's silhouette rushing about, adjusting the various dials on the dashboard. Another weight slid out from the wall and landed on top of the stack with a heavy thud. 

"How are you doing there?" Serling asked, tucking her tablet under her arm as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. She dabbed at the sweat gathering on Kon’s furrowed brow.

"P…Peachy!" he returned with a flirtatious wink.  The woman snorted as she stuffed the handkerchief back into her coat pocket before returning to her recording. "I can do this all da-AH!" Kon's knees buckled and he knelt hard against the concrete floor.  Serling's tablet clattered to the ground as she sprinted toward to the emergency button on the wall nearby.  She slammed it and several cylinders emerged from the walls and the floor, pinning the boy's burden between the columns.  Serling jogged over to Kon-El, seizing him by his wrists and dragging him out until they were both clear of the stacked weights.

"Jesus H. Christ!" Spence shouts came through the loudspeaker overhead.  "Are you two ok?!"

Serling threw a thumbs-up gesture at her as she pulled the boy to his feet.

"I thought I could do it..." Kon sighed as he kicked out his legs. His knees popped a few times before the quieted. “Growing pains, I guess…”

"I pushed you too hard," Serling muttered as she snatched the tablet from the floor where she had thrown it down.  "Your fathers would skin me alive if they knew..."

"Then, don't say anything then!" he snapped with a stamp of his foot.  Kon sighed. "S-sorry.  It's just that if Pa thinks I can't handle myself... Forget it."

"Kal-El only worries about you, Kon," she returned.

"Whatever,” he muttered, scuffing the ball of his foot against the floor.

Serling said nothing. She gestured toward entrance for the observation room and Kon followed after her as she walked in its direction. No sooner had they reached the door, it flew open, revealing a panicked-looking Dr. Spence.

"Kon, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" the woman cried, her fingers pulling at her short, curly hair.  "I thought you were gonna be a pancake and on your birthday too!"

"He’s fine, Amanda,” Serling huffed, pushing past her as she climbed the stairs.  "We have data to review."

Spence placed a quick kiss atop Kon’s dark head before she followed her partner. The boy sported a small, lop-sided smile and followed after them both. 

As he entered the observation room, Kon was oddly comforted by the fact that it was still in its usual state of perpetual mess: piles of binders and reports threatening to spill out of their bookshelves, holographic graphs and charts polluting in the air, paper coffee cups stacked high on nearly every available surface.  The women were by the control console, adding their new findings to the data base.

Kon brushed the holograms aside and plopped himself into a nearby chair.  He turned himself a round and round, trying to ignore the women as they spoke in low, hushed voices.

"Hey, Kid!" Spence called out.  "Come here for a minute."

It was a cupcake - chocolate with fluffy, whipped frosting and sprinkles.

"Happy Birthday, kid," they said in unison.

"T-thanks," he stammered in reply.  Spence smiled brightly as she held the cupcake up to his face. And Kon blew out the flickering flame.

“Well?” Serling asked, crossing her arms. “What did you wish for, Kon?”

“Oh, Serling, you know that’s not how it works!” Spence scolded her, her signature smile on her face. “You know he can’t tell us…”

Kon did not answer as he busied himself with devouring his treat as quickly as possible.

But little did any of them know but across the compound campus, his wish was about to come true as Kal sat in the waiting room outside of Lena's office while Lex and Lena spoke with their friend and business partner, Bruce Wayne.  They had been in there for nearly two hours.  He tried to distract himself by watching the news on the waiting room television. 

He watched Batman leapt high in the air with his cape fanned out around him as he descended and delivered the final blow to a weary Killer Croc.  The towering reptilian metahuman collapsed onto the ground in a scaly heap.  Daily Plant Network News Correspondent, Cat Grant, recounted the events as the clip played replayed itself in a loop on the lower corner of the screen:

_Batman apprehended Waylon Jones, a.k.a. Killer Croc, last night after he attempted to break into Wayne Enterprises R & D.  The caped crusader's timely arrival put an end to the week long string of robberies carried out by Jones, who had ransacked LexCorp's Gotham laboratories just yesterday._

 

_But these recent events have stirred some public concerns that have people asking:_

_'Are metahumans a growing menace?'_

 

_We turn now to Political Radio Host, Jack Ryder of the Jack Ryder Show, for further comment on the situation. Jack?_

_Thank you, Cat! Without a doubt, Metahumans are a danger to-_

The screen went black, taking Ryder's smug face with it.  Kal jabbed the off button a little harder than he intended. He grimaced as the controller crack in his fist.  Hastily, Kal shoved the crumbled controller in between the couch cushions as the office’s door handle jiggled and the door creaked opened.

 

"Hey!" Lena chirped cheerily, stepping out into the waiting room as he leapt onto his feet. "I was just about to come and get you."

 

"What a coincidence," he replied.  "I was coming to retrieve you for the party."  She smiled when he tugged affectionately on her ponytail as she walked by him.  Lex filed out soon after.  

 

"We missed you in there," he said, giving his husband a small, nervous smile.  He stopped in front of him, his arms wrapped around a thick dossier nearly overflowing with documents. Lex shifted his burden onto his hip and rested his now-free hand on his husband’s shoulder. "Listen, everything's set… if Kon wants to go, of course."

 

Slowly, Kal moved his hand to clasp Lex’s.

“Well, hello there...”

The two men looked up and saw Bruce Wayne emerging from the office. A sour taste filled Kal’s mouth, wrinkling his nose at the heady scent of pomade and cologne, as the wealth Gothamite strode over to them. His suit was as slick and as black as his hair - his impossibly white teeth gleaming like a wild dog’s fangs as he offered them a placating smile.

"Wayne," came Kal's stony, monosyllabic reply as he used his full height to look down at him. Bruce continued to beam up back at him, his dark eyes shimmering with an irritating calm.

“K-Kal,” Lex chided, his voice holding a slight tremor. “Be nice…”

"Forgive me," the Kryptonian said, though his expression was anything but contrite. “I am grateful that you are so willing to open your home to our son.”

“Of course, of course!” the man said, his simpering expression filling Kal’s throat with bile. “He’s such a wonder kid! Anything to help him get out there in the world, you know?”

“Thank you. You are so…kind,” replied Kal, the last word dripping from his silvered tongue with venom. “Will you be joining us for the party then?”

~~~

Bruce blinked at the sizable spread before his: herb-encrusted chicken fingers, rosemary fries, Kobe beef burgers, flat bread pizzas - And that was only one table!  He admired the looming chocolate fountain complete with pile of fresh cut strawberries, cubes of exotic cheeses and fluffy marshmallows.  There was a pyramid of Zesti in absolutely, every flavor.

Jason and Tim would be in heaven had they come with him as he asked.

"Not before you greet your guests, son," he heard Lex cry exasperatedly behind him. Taking a sip of his lemon Zesti, Bruce peered over his should and saw his friend taking hold of the boy’s belt as he gravitated towards the gourmet bagel bites. Kon whined in protest, grasping uselessly at the food just outside his reach as his father lead him away and over to where he stood.  "Son, Bruce Wayne came all this way to see you on your special day..."  

"Hello, Mr. Wayne," Kon greeted, extending his hand.  Bruce took it.

“Quite a grip you have there, kid,” he returned. “And Happy Birthday, Kon!”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be back later,” Lex said. He clasped Kon’s shoulder briefly before trotting off to join his husband, who had been lingering by the burrito bar.

“So, sixteen, huh?” he asked between sips of his soda. “In a few more years, you’ll be off to college…”

“Er, I don’t know…” Kon muttered, dragging the toe of his dress shoe across the wood flooring. “I don’t think Pa wants me to go far with my _condition_ and all.”

“Nonsense! We both know there is nothing wrong with you,” he returned evenly. “You'll be an adult before they can blink.  Surely, you cannot expect to spend all of your days by their side...”

“S-sir?”

“So, how about it?" Bruce inquired, tapping his ringed finger against his glass.  "Would you like to spend the summer in Gotham with my and kids, Kon-El?”

The boy’s eyes darted to his parents and then back to Bruce.  Color rose on his tanned cheeks as his lips fluttered, finding it difficult to the form the words.

“I… I would love to but… Pa might not-“ He fell silent as he glance at his parents over Wayne’s shoulder. Kal looked away almost instantly. Heat prickled his ears and cheeks. Kon licked his dry lips as doubtful look on his face melted away and was replaced with one of defiance.

“Sir," he said, loud and clear.  "I would absolutely love to spend the summer with you and your family.”


	4. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I deleted the original chapter four. This is the new one.  
> In this bit, there's just a lot of feelings. Everyone has emotions.

They rode in silence, each sibling standing in a corner of the elevator as it descended.   Lena twisted the end of her ponytail between fingers, her mint lacquered nails stark against the strawberry tresses.  
  
"Isn't it a little late for a visit, Lex?" she asked.  Her tone was cheerless despite her simpering lips as she peered him curiously through red-rimmed, sleepy eyes.  Lex shrugged, shoving his hands deeper into his jacket pockets.  
  
"Isn't it a little late for more work, Len?" he returned.    
  
"I am CEO of a top Fortune 500 company.  I can't do 9-to-5, unlike a certain director of R&D…"  Her reply was met with playful but, ultimately, rude hand gesture.  She snorted and returned her brother's favor.  The elevator slowed and then stopped.  It dinged and its doors slid open.  The twins stepped out into the corridor, striding along until they reached the first fork.     
  
"I am this way," Lena spoke, pointing down an unlit corridor.  
  
"I'll come and get you when I get done," Lex offered.  She shook her head.  
  
"Don't bother.  I have a feeling it will be another all-nighter.”  
  
"You'll get him, Len," he said reassuringly.  "How many dummy corporations can one man launder money through anyway?"  His sister sighed, her shoulders slumping.  
  
"Just tell them I said 'Hello,' okay?" Lena turned and walked down her path.  He watched her until she was gone, swallowed by shadow.  Lex continued onward, walking in the direction of the old laboratories.  

Many of the observation windows were empty - the rooms now housed silence, dust and memory. Lionel's secret lab had been modified somewhat.  Lena had the spectrum lamps replaced with proper lighting.  Kal's old room had been emptied and sealed off - its troublesome contents quietly decomposing in a distant landfill. They kept and maintained the Kryptonian artifacts down here – away from prying eyes and greedy hands. Lex smiled as he passed the lab that held Kal’s ship in traveled to Earth in as an infant. He spent years restoring it in time for their tenth anniversary.

Not before long, Lex found himself at his destination, gripped its doorknob and stepped through. 

The lights flickered on revealing a sparse room.  There were two tables in the center.  On one sat a city, no bigger than a harvest pumpkin, covered by a bell jar.  Turrets and towers reached toward a tiny crimson orb, floating soundless overhead and filling the jar with its muted, red light. 

On the other were crystals.  They were varied - in size (slender, stumpy), color (honey, blush) and structure (jagged, smooth).  Some lay in a heap.  Others were lined neatly.  But there was a pair hovering above the rest.  No sooner than had Lex stood before them, they fell still.  Gingerly, he reached out and touched one.  It began to hum.  Lex tapped the other.  It began to sing. Wisps of light like thread unraveled from their crystals’ tips. They began to entangle, taking shape as they slowly formed into a pair of bright, human forms.

Lex blinked.  A wizened couple, projected from the crystal's light, blinked back.

He ran his fingers over the smooth skin of his hairless crown as the woman simpered softly at him, her wrinkles framing azure eyes and pale lips.   Her dark hair was swept onto of her head, held in place by several thin golden bands. Blue robes cascaded over their broad shoulders with gold and red emblem resting firmly over both of their hearts.

"Hello, Alexander," the woman said.  "It's so good to see you."

"Hello, Lara.  Jor-El," Lex returned softly. “I… I need to ask a favor…”

~~~

“Kon-El, wait!” Kal cried as floated down the hallway after his son, the carpet a blur beneath his frantic feet.

“Don’t touch me!” the boy hissed when his Pa’s fingertips grazed his forearm. Kon snatched it out of his reach and ducked inside his room. He wanted to slam his bedroom door; he wanted to slam it with such force it would splintered into a cloud of jagged wood and paint.  But he had already broken two other doors in the last six months and did not feel like receiving another lecture from his aunt.  Especially not when freedom was so close...

Kon tore his tie from his throat and tossed the tattered fabric to the ground. His shirt and pants were next. The boy kicked them away as they fell to the ground. A bit of the sleeve landed on Krypto – a stuffed, white toy dog Dad brought back for him from Star City – who sat on his desk, underneath his Martian Manhunter poster.

Kon zipped over and yanked it off. The dog tumbled to the floor. It looked up at him with his black, plastic eyes. Kon frowned at his reflection. It frowned back.

“Shut up,” he muttered to the dog as he bent low and plucked it up.  His thumbs brushed against cotton poking out from between his worn seams. Kon tossed it back onto the desk.  He grabbed a pair of boxers hanging on the back of his chair and slipped them on.

“I…I am coming in,” came Kal’s voice through the door. It was trembling, weak.  It was everything Kon hated about him.

“I _am going_!” he barked. The brass knob began to turn as he yanked a t-shirt over his dark head. When he re-emerged, his father stood there in the doorway, his fingers twisting over themselves.  “You can’t keep me here…”

“Son, of course not…” Kal countered, his voice raw and strained. He stood, shoulders hunched and fingers still threading together as his towering, broad frame seemed to sag in on itself. “B-but I…I have done everything to keep you safe from men like…him.”

“Like who?” the boy sneered.

A cruel thought struggled to be freed, sitting on the tip of his tongue like a poison dart. Kon’s lips screwing shut as he tried to swallow it down. But he spat it back up as something new, something equally venomous and it flew from his snarling mouth.

“I can’t live in fear of everything because of what happened to _you_!” Kon bellowed, feeling the heat filling his head – his brain buzzed with rage. “Lionel is dead... Get over it already!”

There was a sudden rush of air. 

Kon blinked, lowering his arms, and saw that Pa had gone.

And Krypto went with him.

~~~

Lena sat hunched over a thick accounting ledger, surrounded by stacks of boxes, binders and books that she asked Mercy to pull for her.  Her heels abandoned beneath her chair, as her stocking feet were tucked up underneath her.  A coffee pot sputtered in the corner of the marble counter-top, its heady scent permeating the small kitchenette. Under the soft, yellow light, she combed meticulously over each expense, her eye trailing along every line item.  It had been like this every weekend for the last ten years.  And even if it took ten more years, Lena found and pulled every thread Lionel had woven, until every clandestine corporation and secret offshore account unraveled. 

Glamorous?  No. 

Necessary?  Yes.

After hours of searching, Lena found it.  Lionel hid this lie and he hid it well.  But it was all there - a code hidden in the most innocuous expenses: Reams of copier paper translated into clothing, bedding; cartridges of printer ink meant toiletries; mailing labels equated perishables like food.  Anything large, such as medical equipment, Lionel could procure and conceal within R&D's laboratory budget in the company’s cash flow statement.  Every syringe and every cotton swab a front for his predilection (If one could call it that.). 

She squinted through her reading glasses, running her highlighter across a suspicious transaction.

_Kal's gaunt face drawn with fear as Lex helped him to stand; how tightly he clung to her brother as the rode the elevator to the penthouse._

Another lie caught and underlined in neon yellow.

  
_Kon's radiant smile as he wrapped his rangy arms and legs around Mercy as she carried him out and into the open air. He shouted into the wind, eyes wide at his first glimpse of the sun._

More deception.  More distractions.  All of Lionel's time and money wasted on...!

_Her mother with a weary simper as she gently turned Lena's hands over, admiring the nail polish her tomboy daughter finally agreed to put on; her weak but happy tittering faint against the steady beep from her monitor._

"Yikes," Lena muttered to herself, pushing the ledger across the table. As she made to stand, her hand caught the last file folder in her pile and sent it scattering onto the floor. 

"Damn it," Lena groused.  She knelt down with a groan, sweeping the pages into a pile before shoving them back into the folder. There was a deed, a sales contract for the house, a few Polaroids of their old farm. Her mother smiled back at her, their prize piglet balanced on her hip. Lena carefully tucked the photo into her skirt pocket.

Her fingers traced the dainty loops and whirls of her mother's signature.  

The only other item was an envelope taped to the inside the folder.  Several crumpled papers peeked out from its flap as if they had been hastily stuffed into it.  Gingerly, Lena plucked the envelope out and shook its contents onto the floor.  The pages were dingy, the corners were charred.  As she unfolded it, smoothing flat against the ground, it seemed to be a lab report.

_Subject 2421958-VRDX was a part of artificial intelligence interface designed for an interstellar transportation module that once held Subject 619381-K as an infant.  Subject seems to possess limitless capacity to store, analyze and process data at immeasurable rates.  Was able to copy and compile all 422 terabytes of the US Library of Congress' web archives in less than fifteen minutes and-_

Lena paused and snatched up the folder. She flattened the yellowed, peeling label.

The next few moments were a blur. Lena grabbed everything, shoving it into the folder with surprising speed. She dashed from the kitchenette – coffee maker still gurgling, shoes abandoned – and down the long, dark hallway. She stocking feet slapped loudly across the marble floor. She skidded, her hip crashing into the wall as she skidded into the elevator door. Lena jabbed the button until the opened and then she violently stabbed more buttons until it closed. As the car began to rise, Lena stooped and stuck the file underneath her arm. Her fingers clutch a small button attached to the collar of his blouse.

It lit up. Red. Static crackled briefly before Lena said:

“I am leaving.”

The elevator stopped and the doors opened a moment later. She sprinted out and into her office where Mercy stood, hands at her side. Lena stalked past her to her desk. She knelt down - disappearing from her bodyguard’s shaded sight before re-emerging with an oversized duffle bag in hand

“Where are you going?” the Amazon asked.

“Central City,” she muttered, dropping the file into a bag. “I should be back in a few days...” Lena hoisted the duffle’s straps over her shoulder. Mercy opened the balcony doors just as she strode through. The roar of the helicopter’s blade and great gusts of wind greeted her.

Lena stalked across the helipad, her red hair whipping about her face, as she headed towards a helicopter. She could hear Mercy – her heels click-clacking by her side –though she could not see her.

“I have clothing on the jet, right?” Lena shouted over the noise.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” The woman climbed into the helicopter, the bottoms of her stocking feet black as the blacktop. The co-pilot nodded at Mercy before sliding the door shut. The helicopter rose into the air – a shrinking stain on the otherwise perfectly golden horizon.

And as Lena left on her journey, racing through the predawn sky, her nephew was about to begin his own.

Kon watched as a servant loaded his suitcases into the town car. His eyes volleyed between the lobby doors and Serling, who spoke in hushed tones with Alfred, Mr. Wayne's valet.  The lobby was empty; its pristine tiles golden in early morning light.  In need of a distraction, he peeked in Serling's direction just as she passed Alfred a thick, coffee-colored dossier and a small metal box.   

"…for emergencies only.  No exceptions.  No excuses."

"Kon?" Lex voice cut through his reverie, causing the boy to start. He forgot, for a moment, that his Dad was standing beside him. He looked up and saw him with his arm crossed, his brow furrowed.  "I was speaking to you, young man."

"Er, sorry, Dad..." 

Lex sighed. He pulled a black bracelet box from his lab coat pocket.

"This is for you."

"What is it?"  Kon asked, taking it from his father.  As he tried to raise the lid, Dad's hands closed over his.

"Open it when you get there.  Alone, ok?"  Kon nodded, eyes curious but earnest.  Lex ruffled his hair, earning himself an indignant squawk.

"Um, where's Aunt Lena?" the boy asked as he tucked his gift away into his backpack.

"Oh, she left for Central City first thing this morning on business."

"Why?  Is she ok?"

"She's fine," Lex replied.  "She is scheduled to be in Gotham next week and insists on taking you out for a Gotham 'Gutbomb Burger.'"  His father grimaced at the thought of a dish that was the literal embodiment of heartburn.   

"I'll eat five as revenge."

"Naturally."

"Are you ready to go, Young Master?" Alfred asked.  Kon's stomach grew cold, a sour burning filling his throat as he peered around his father and into the still vacant lobby.

“Yeah…”

His father waved his hand.

_Give us a minute._

Alfred bent slightly and disappeared into the front of the car.

Kon hugged his father. His father hugged him back. He did not even fuss when Dad planted a kiss on the top of his head. Kon breathed deeply. Lex smelled like peppermint and coffee and (faintly) of chemicals and cotton.

“You can call me anytime.”

“I know…”

“And… you can come home anytime, if it’s too much,” he heard his voices rumbling through his shirted chest. It vibrated through Kon’s body in a comforting way. Lex’s arms tightened.

"Kon?”

“…ahvrigahzh khahp zh-zhod." Pa extended his arm. In his hand was Krypto. He was freshly washed. His seams newly sewn shut. Kon felt a push against the small of his back. Dad smiled down at him and winked.

The boy stepped forward, taking the toy into his hands.

Kon’s tongue weighed heavily in his mouth as the ill-used and nearly forgotten words.  They felt odd.  Wrong.  He wanted to speak but fear seized his throat.

“Kon,” he heard his Dad say over the blood thrumming in his ears. “What do you say to your Pa…?”

He swallowed, pushing the knot in his throat down, down, down into his roiling stomach.

“Zhalishodh…sokao…” he pleaded, his tongue running over his too dry lips. But whether he was asking for himself or his father, Kon did not know.

"Ah! Wan khahp ehworodh rrup English," his Pa replied, bright eyes crinkling. Carefully, as if he was approaching a wild beast, Kal stepped close. He rested his hands on Kon’s leather clad shoulders. It creaked under his fingertips. "Jevia nim khahp. Wan khahp Tuvuhsh rrup…"

"Z-zhad-dif," Kon hiccupped. 

"Ukiem rrup ukrni, te unahte," Pa returned, his smile still radiant, genuine.  Kon vaulted forward - half a tackle, half-in-flight - and threw his arms around his father's neck.  Kal wrapped his arms around his Pa tightly, not caring that Krypto had slipped from his grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to learn Kryptonian from here (I failed.): http://kryptonian.info/  
> Kryptonian translation:
> 
> "Kon, ahvrigahzh khahp zhod." (Kon, I found him.)  
>  
> 
> "Zhalishodh…sokao…" (Please... forgive me...)
> 
>    
> "Ah! Wan khahp ehworodh rrup English." (Ah, I thought you could only speak English.) "Jevia nim khahp... Wan khahp Tuvuhsh rrup. (Basically: I am happy. I thought you would forget.") 
> 
> "Zhadif." (Never.)
> 
> "Ukiem rrup ni ukr, unahte." (Your father loves you, my son.)


	5. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kon-El people watches. Bruce can't let the Bat get the best of him. Stephanie waits. Titus just wants a sunbeam, ok?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Update 4-11-2016: So, I changed some things in this chapter because they made more sense if they happened earlier as opposed to when I wanted them to happen. Bruce withholds things but I cannot see him NOT telling his loved ones in advanced about what their alien guest could do. So... I changed this chapter to reflect this. 
> 
> Sorry, everyone. I know I make so many changes but like writing is hard...
> 
> General A/N:In this universe (and somewhat similar to the DCU) meta-humans are still very rare and mysterious (see "Weight"). If they can, many of them live quietly and in plain sight. Their origins seem to vary (Big Bang in Dakota, experiment(al accidents)s, alien-human hybrids, etc.) and the concept meta-human is largely treated as an umbrella term for anyone that has powers and/or is mutated outside of the influence of magic (Diana, Zatanna, etc. do NOT count as metahumans) or are directly from an extraterrestial species (J'onn, Kh'adija, Icon, etc.).

_"Their biology allows Kryptonains to absorb and to metabolize yellow spectrum sunlight, giving them extraordinary abilities," Bruce explained as he showed holo-video of Kon walking toward a machine gun turret, rounds bouncing off his frame.  When he reached it, the boy easily tore the turret from its foundation single-handedly.  Stephanie drew a sharp breath, while Jason's eyes grew wide. "Kon-El has superhuman strength and super-sonic speed on land while running or in flight."_

_Tim reached for the dossier sitting on the console shelf.  He opened it and began to read along with his father's presentation._

_"And it seems that their species can survive on sunlight alone.  For example, Kon-El's father - Kal-El - requires no food, drink or sleep.  But it appears that his son cannot do the same, presently."_

_"Presently?" Cassandra asked.  
_

_~~~  
_

"Please take your hands off the glass, young lady.  You're getting your prints all over..."

Stephanie huffed, her breath fogging up the window.  She sat back on her calves, ignoring the burning pinch behind her knees. Titus, who had been watching her intently, whined.  He reared up on his haunches, swiping wildly at a sunbeam opening on his wet nose.  Stephanie looked down at him.  Gently, she scratched the space between his ear before returning to her watch.  He licked his chops, his floppy, pink tongue slapping loudly against his nose, as he turned his baleful eyes to the window.

The late morning sun finally made its way over the Elliot house on the hill; its rays unfolding like ribbons of light across the Wayne Estate.   

"What are you doing?" 

Stephanie looked up. 

Bruce's reflection sat at his study desk behind her, scribbling furiously on something.

"I want to see what this 'Connell' guy looks like," she replied.  The loveseat wobbled as she shifted.  Titus yawned and rested his head on his paws.  Her calves ached.  She didn't care.  There were twenty whole dollars riding on this.

"It's Kon-El, Stephanie."

"Right. I said, 'Connell.'"

"No.  It's two words, hyphenated.  Kon - K O N -, and then, El - E L."

The girl's mouth formed soundless "o".  Titus wagged his tail and shoved his bulky body onto the love-seat.

"Bruce, is it true?" she asked, twisting her tow tresses between her fingers.  "This kid is really an alien?"

"He's only half.  The other half is human." 

"Half human, half space-man, huh?" 

Bruce sucked his teeth reprovingly.  Then, Titus howled.  Stephanie narrowed her eyes as she watching the main gate as a long black town car rounded the stone wall and slowed to a stopped before it.  Both girl and dog perked up at the sound of the iron doors swinging open, the crunch of the tires over the gravel as it made its way toward the manor.

Titus sprang up, causing the love-seat to teeter.  Stephanie shrieked as she fell backward, catching herself on the palms of her hands before flipping over in an awkward back handspring and flopping onto her belly.

"Damn dog!" she hissed, ignoring Bruce calls as she scrambled up and hobbled after Titus on stiff legs.  But he paid her no mind.  Titus bounded from the study and skittered into the hall.  He slid to a stop in front of the main door, howling wildly and scratching against the dark stained wood with his paw.  Stephanie pushed past him, pulling the door open just a crack.  He whined, pushing his way in front, bumping up against her bare legs to see what the human was fussing about.  They watched as Alfred emerged from the driver's side and strode to the passenger door to pull it open.

A boy climbed out.  He was tall with an athletic build he hid poorly beneath a red leather biker jacket.  He was thoroughly tanned - skin that lived in and lived for the sun.  His dark hair was fathomless, impossibly black and sprung very which way.  He said something to Alfred, gesturing to the trunk but was met with a head shake and a smile.  The old man took him by the shoulder and lead him toward the stairs.   Stephanie quietly pulled Titus and herself back inside as she closed the door. 

~~~

_"His handlers theorize that Kon's powers may change as he ages," their father continued to explain.  He tapped a few keys on the computer console and videos of a boy blowing great gusts of winds from his lips.  Everything it touched froze over instantly.  "According to Dr. Spence, when he turned 12, Kon developed  'freeze breath' and 'heat vision.'  The former is the ability to exhale air at sub-zero temperatures from his lungs, and the latter, is the ability to emit a highly concentrated laser heat beam from his eyes.  It is also known to emit low levels of radiation and penetrate steel."_

_"He also possesses extremely heightened senses," Tim interjected.  "This kid can hear almost any frequency, all over the world.  He can see over great distances, ignoring the curvature of the Earth; he possesses "x-ray" sight that allows him to see through almost every object, save lead."_

_"This dude can look through clothes!?" Stephanie shrieked, wrapping her arms around herself.  "Jesus, of all the days for my underwear not to match..."_

_"The kid could probably throw the Earth into the Sun, but you are worried about him see your push-up bra?" Jason sighed, rolling his eyes._

_"A violation is a violation," Cassie defended her sister, crossing her arms over her chest.  "Child or not, I will not forgive him if he willing uses his abilities in such a way..."  
_

_~~~  
_

"He's here!" Stephanie shouted as she frantically straightened her clothes.  There was a rumbling above, the chandelier swaying as a herd of Wayne children clambered down the stairs.

"You saw him first, Steph?" Jason asked breathlessly.

"Pay up!"

"Is he cute?" Dick queried, greasing his sister's outstretched palm with a 20 dollar bill.

"Dick!"  Damian chided.

"But still, Dick has a point... Is he cute?" Cassie rebounded.

"Cassie..."  Tim sighed.  He pulled at clothing irritably.  "We look like a cult."  They were all smartly dressed.  All six children wore starched collar shirts, pressed slacks and sweater vests like their father. 

"Enough," Bruce commanded as strode into the hall, his hands folded behind his back.  They fell in line behind.  Titus immediately sat on his rump.  He tilted his nose upward, giving himself a distinguished air.  "You'll scare him before he steps one foot in the house."   The door bell rang.  Bruce stepped forward and pulled it open.

All six children simultaneously leaned outward and around Bruce's towering form (Three on his left, three on his right.), craning their necks to catch a glimpse of their guest.  They saw a boy in a red jacket.  He blinked at them with wide eyes.  They blinked back.

"Hello, Kon," Bruce said.  "Welcome to Wayne Manor." 

~~~

_"He's practically a god," Damian sneered, his lip curling.  "So, why does he is he being sent here?  Why would his kind even fathom sitting through meals with us?  Doing his own laundry?  Speaking to beings that are clearly inferior to someone like him?"_

_"Because because even 'gods' want to be normal..." Tim answered as he continued to thumb through the LexCorp dossier.  "He's just doing what he's raised to do because he was raised by humans and **is** partly human himself.  He just wants to learn."_

_"Yeah, unlike someone we all know and love," Stephanie muttered, tilting her pointed chin at their youngest brother.  Damian sucked his teeth._

_"And that's why his father sent him here, Lil' D," Dick returned softly, clasping his little brother's shoulder._

_"Your concerns are all valid," Bruce spoke up.  "Lex and Kal have no doubt done their best raising their son.  But we know for a fact, that anyone is capable of anything.  Part of Kon's 'training' is to learn to live with in this morally and ethically complex world of ours.  And just because he has the power, his parents have ingrained in him that he does not need to use it."_

_"Besides, there is a deterrent," Cassandra asked, her hand motioning the image of a jade-colored rock - glowing and thrumming with a strange energy - on the screen. "...is there not?"_

~~~

Children. 

Well, not really quite children (save the little scowling one) but Kon had never seen so many people around his age this close.  Or all at once.  The average age for the compound personnel was 35. 

Rao, Pa's dossier on the Waynes was not thick enough.  Bruce seemed to have a herd of children - all different shapes, sizes, and colors - that filled the entirety of the foyer.

Quickly, Kon wiped his sweaty palms on his pant leg before shaking their hands.  One by one he took them in:

The three oldest brothers - Dick, Jason and Tim - seemed to be a themed set.  All three had Bruce's coal black hair, strong jaw, pale skin and bright eyes.  But Dick seemed more lithe, coltish, happier; Jason more broad shouldered, looming but ultimately kind; and Tim was slight, petite, aloof.  Kon bit the inside of cheek to keep from chuckling.  They sort of reminded him of the Russian nesting doll Auntie Lena gave him from her trip to St. Petersburg.

The eldest daughter -Cassandra- had a face that was softer, with round a nose, cheeks, and chin.  There was a hint of bronze underlining her skin.  She had the same dark hair; her hazel, ellipsoidal eyes were framed with thick lashes.

Damian resembled a miniature version of Mr. Wayne, but had rich, umber colored skin.  His nose had a slight convex curve and it was offset with his father's brilliant eyes. 

Stephanie looked the most out of place with her blonde hair - a bright spot in the dark manor.  Her nose and cheeks were rosy as if she had been running; her eyes were owlish, blue, with mischief shimmering faintly beneath them. 

Titus was so large Kon thought he was a miniature horse.  His soulful brown eyes made him smile.  He gave him a gentle pat on the head and was met with several hearty licks across his face.  The children sputtered, scolding Titus and freeing Kon from his massive paws.  He laughed, wiping his slobber-covered cheek on a sleeve.

After they finished their greetings, Alfred left to prepare lunch.  Bruce excused himself to retreat to the study.  He ordered the children to help Kon with his luggage, and for all of them to be in the dining room at noon.  All the children but Cassandra, who led him to the nearest wash room to properly clean his face, scrambled out to the car to bring his things inside.

When Kon reemerged he found them waiting.

"We'll take you to your room before we eat!" Stephanie said cheerily.  He followed after them, listening to their excited chatter as they lead him up the main stairwell and deeper into the manor.   

 ~~~

The bats chattered overhead, flapping and folding their leathery wings across their furry bodies, as Alfred made his way down the winding stairwell.   The loaded tray - English tea and several morning papers - clanged softly with each stepped.  He found Bruce sitting at the computer, typing furiously as he was reviewing their reports from the last night's patrol.  Carefully, the old man sat the trey on the a table by the chair.  Bruce said nothing, his eyes still fixed to the screen.  

"For the boy," he announced, producing a small, metal box from his jacket pocket.  He set it in front of Bruce who snatched it up.  He turned it over in his large hands. 

"Is this the-"

"Yes and we best put it away immediately," Alfred answered quickly, cutting him off.  He pulled his lips into a thin line, his forehead creasing as Bruce opened the box.  A faint verdant glow washed over their faces.  Bruce watched it intently for a moment before shutting the box with snap.  "Do not use it frivolously.  Or frequently.  It causes cancer in humans."

"You don't trust me?" Bruce asked, his expression incredulous as he finally turned to look up at the servant.

"Not entirely.  Not with this...."

"You sound like Diana," the man huffed as he placed the box back onto the side table.  "Honestly, I want to help Kon-El.  But that doesn't mean we can't learn from this little social experiment." 

"There is a fine line between kindness and cruelty," Alfred returned evenly.  "For the poor boy's sake, I pray that you know the difference."

The bats shrieked, their cries filling the stretch of silence growing between them.

"Lunch is in fifteen minutes," he said coolly, his eyes sliding away from Bruce and onto the box.  His wizened fingers lingered on the lid.  He gave it a tap, before clutching a fist to his suited breast.  "Do not be late."

~~~

"You ready for lunch?" 

Kon started.  He shut the lid to the bracelet box shut and tucked it into the back of his dresser drawer before turning around.  One of the sons -Tomlin?  Tony?  Theodore? - stood in the doorway, watching him with a placid look.  He was slight - well, skinnier than his older brothers - and somewhat pale. His wiry black hair swooped across his forehead in an uneven bang which Kon could not determine if it was deliberate, an accident, or both. 

"Tim," said Tim, pulling Kon from his reverie.  "My name is Tim.  Sorry, but you looked like you were having an aneurysm trying to remember."

"Sorry," Kon replied, scratching the back of his neck.  "There's just... a lot of you."

"Yeah, Bruce is a big collector of wayward kids…" Tim shrugged, the corners of his mouth twitched as he said it.  "Er- that did not come out right. He’s a good guy. We can talk about it more over lunch..."

"R-right," stammered Kon.  "I just need a minute to..."  The boy darted to the mirror and fussed with his hair at a blinding speed before and he followed Tim out into the hall.

"We're eating in the sun-room," Tim explained, pulling at a loose thread on the cuff’s seam. "Alfred made Salad Niçoise with seared tuna." 

He said nothing.  He flashed a small smile at the boy when he glanced over his shoulder at him. Tim regarded him with a passive expression – his bright eyes immutable. Kon swallowed thickly and offered a wiry smile.

"You have no idea what that is, do you?"  Tim commented, his spiritless tone echoing off dark-stained walls as they padded down the hall.

Heat pricked the tips of Kon's ears.  He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, his eyes darting to the dark wood panels lining the wall as they descended the stairs to the main hall.

"No, not really," he replied, doing his damnedest to sound indifferent.  "But hey, I eat bacon cheese burgers between two pop tarts.  So, I am not picky..."  

Tim said nothing as they rounded the corner.  Kon bit his lip.  He trailed after him, his eyes glancing from relic to relic as they walked through the massive manor.  A coat of arms hung over the entrance in the main foyer - the silhouette of a black bat on a golden shield, framed by blue and silver oak leaves; a gleaming display case with an assortment of muskets and hatchets that belonged to Nathaniel Wayne, the first Wayne to cross the Atlantic on the Mayflower; a gilded family Bible and set of Cyrus Pinkney original blueprints for Solomon Wayne's courthouse...

It was as if the chapters of his history textbook had sprung to life. Mercy would have had a field day in this place.

Kon paused as they entered the living room where a looming portrait of a man and a woman was fastened over the fireplace.  It was so huge that it seemed to be the only thing in the room. Kon could not look at way. He stared hard at their faces as they trotted past: a man with impossibly broad shouldered sported a plush, bristling mustache that made him look both severe and kind. Kon bit down on the corner of his lip. It reminded him of the time his Dad was determined to grown his own.  They teased him for a week that that was the only place on his head (besides his eyebrows) where he had hair.

There was a woman too. She sat in front of the man, whose hands were resting on her slight shoulders. She had sharp features – a nose and mouth like curve of a blade –and dark brown hair piled high on her head.  Her eyes were dark but kind and seemed to follow the boys as they walked by her.

"That's Bruce's father - Thomas Wayne.  And that's Martha Wayne, Bruce's mother," he heard Tim say.

“Oh, are they…” His question hung in the air – suspended and hoping to land on an answer without…

“They are dead.”

Kon stopped mid step. Tim regarded him with his cool expression once more – his eyes still unreadable.

“Oh… I-“

“Don’t worry about it,” the boy said, waving it away. “They’ve been dead for a long time. If you ask Bruce, he’ll tell you all about it…”

“N-no!” Kon… raising his hands. He felt a bit stupid. Bruce _was_ his father’s best friend. All these years no one had mentioned anything like that to him. To be honest, it was not his father’s story to tell. He shrugged. “I’m just sorry… I’m good.  I mean, it sucks but... Sorry.”

Tim smiled at him.  No.  The boy attempted to smile at him but he pulling his lips into a tight line, forgetting to turn up the corners of his mouth.

Kon had two fathers. He loved them very both. He never had a mother.  But Kon had Aunt Lena and Mercy and they were as good as sixty mothers or so he firmly believed.  Either way, he could not image his life without any one of them.  He suppressed a shiver at the thought.  They continued on, passing through a set of double doors and into a room that was nothing but wall-to-wall windows and a single pair of french doors that lead out into a garden.   The rest of the family were already seated. 

Bruce waved at them in as the entered.  He stood at the head of the table, his litter of children flanking him: Dick(?) was to his immediate right, then Jason, the dark-haired girl (Cassandra?).  On the other side, Stephanie sat two seats down from his left, with the young completing the row.  Alfred hovered in the far corner by the cart.  Tim brushed past him and took the empty seat next to Jason.

"Kon-El, won't you sit by me?" Bruce asked as they approached the table, gesturing to the empty seat to his immediate left.  Kon took his seat just as the butler slid a salad in front of him.  It had chickpeas, asparagus, a boiled egg, tuna... It looked nothing like the leafy monstrosities Aunt Lena would force Dad to eat once a week. ("You can't live off of coffee, turkey jerky, and gum, Lex!" she would shout.)  He watched the others for a moment before picking up his own knife and fork.  Jason and Stephanie tucked in as their food was placed in front of them; they ate as if it would disappear.   Damian wrinkled his nose at them.  He ate more slowly, purposefully as his father did - their backs held straight and tall, their movements graceful.  Dick and Cassandra preferred to look about the room, watching the others with faint interest.

Kon began to cut his tuna into smaller pieces.

"How are you lessons with Barbara going, Cassie?" Dick asked.

"Well," she muttered, cutting an asparagus stalk in half with the edge of her fork.  "...but a lot of work," she added after some thought.  "We're reading 'The Fisherman and His Soul'.  My goal is to read an entire book on my own every other week..."

"That's an tough goal, Cassandra," Bruce chimed-in.  "But even if you read one, you'll have made a tremendous effort.  You're an excellent study."

"It's summer break, what's up with all this 'studying' talk?" Stephanie pouted, waving her knife around haphazardly.  She took a large bite out of her boiled egg.  "Having Ms. Needham was torture and I need eight weeks to purge myself from the trauma that was English Comp."

"She's pretty intense," Tim uttered, almost sympathetically.  Kon watched as the boy move his food on his plate into small piles, taking small bites from each.  "But it wouldn't have been so bad if you actually stayed awake in class..."  A chickpea flew across the table and hit Tim square on the nose.  "Hey!"

"Cut it out," Bruce scolded them, without looking up.

"Aren't you glad it's summer too, Kon?" Stephanie asked him.  "I mean, who wouldn't fall asleep reading 'Romeo and Juliet' for the 40th time..."

"I... I am home-schooled," Kon said softly.  "All year around.  So, no summer vacation for me."

"What?!" the girl yelled, slapping her hands down on the table.  Damian cast her a sour look as he steadied his clattering saucer. "No summer break?!  What about Christmas?  Hanukkah?  Winter Solstice?  Have you been to space?  Do you celebrate holidays _in_ space?!"

"Steph, calm down," Jason grumbled, flicking a cherry tomato at his sister.  It earned him a slap on the arm from Tim.  He just laughed.

 _We don't celebrate any religious holidays because Dad is a secular humanists and Pa is an alien from another planet and we lived in my grandfather's secret lab for years as his personal lab rats and that hadn't changed much until today,_ is what Kon-El wanted to say as the girl sat back down.  But he continued to saw away at his tuna steak, focusing is gaze on the gilded pattern lining the edge of his plate.  What else could he knowing their eyes were on him, watching his every move?

_Don't sulk.  You've wanted this for so long.  So what if everyone here has lived rich, fulfilling lives?  Dad let you out so you can do the same.  Don't pout.  It's ok.  Everything will be o-_

A crack pulled him from his reverie.   Kon looked down at his plate.  It was cracked in half.  His breath hitched.  And then, the crumbling of metal twisting reverberated in the quiet of the room.  Cold filled his gut as Kon slowly opened his fist and found the knife crumbled and bent like piece of paper.

"Holy shit," Stephanie muttered, over the shocked silence. "You all say I am the clumsy one."

~~~

_"It's called Kryptonite," Bruce explained as he opened the box in his hand.  It cast everything in a soft verdant light.  His children stared at it, their collective jaws slack and their eyes large.  Then, he shut it, tucking the box away in his utility belt.  "It is an radio-active ore cultivated and contained in the heart of the planet Krypton - Kal-El Luthor's home world.  It found its away to Earth after the planet was destroyed in a cataclysmic event."_

_"You mean their home world just went... 'kablam'? asked Dick.  
_

_"Sadly, yes.  But moving on," Bruce continued.  "If exposed to it briefly, a Kryptonian can temporarily lose their powers, induce extreme nausea or cause them to lose consciousness.  And prolonged exposure to Kryptonite could be potentially fatal to Kryptonians..."_

_The holo-video changed, revealing a man... He doubled-over, his mouth wide as he screamed in pain._

_"Turn it off!" snapped Stephanie.  The holo-screen went dark._

_"I know it is unpleasant, but if Kon accidentally is exposed to Kryptonite, we should all be able to recognize the signs of distress."_

_Tim paused, his fingers shook slightly, dimpling the papers in his hands.  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweater colors (And ages)!
> 
> Bruce - Slate (mid 30s)  
> Dick - Robin's Egg (21)  
> Jason - Oxblood (18)  
> Tim - Evergreen (16)  
> Stephanie - Eggplant (17)  
> Cassie - Marigold (17)  
> Damian - Navy (10)  
> Titus - None. He is a dog. He's 2 in people years.


	6. Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets! Secrets revealed for you, and you, and YOU!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unplanned story finally gets planned. Things are changing for the better.

Lena shielded her eyes from the harsh plain winds with a well-manicured hand.  Kansas was a void - a perpetual flatland of rustling gold and rolling green.  No hills on its horizon - only a few trees and even fewer farm houses.   The summer sun was merciless.  Lena pulled the brim of her sunhat over her ruddy nose.

Her heeled boots kicked up great clouds of dust as she made her way toward the old house, walking the long driveway she and her twin would sprint down – chasing each other until they were breathless and laughing.  The paint has been stripped away by the wind and the sun, leaving nothing but a skeleton of splintered wood and faint memories.  The door lay in the yard; a few window panes were cracked, broken; the roof was devoid of its shingles.  She strode past it to the back. There, Lena saw their old tractor sitting by their father's shack. Rivers of rust streaked down its hood. 

She slowed to a stop by Ma's garden that once boasted some of the fattest tomatoes this side of Topeka, was nothing more than a patch of weather beaten soil, covered in rain-starved crabgrass. The few blades of grass that remained poked out from between the earth like funeral markers.  Lena knelt beside them, seizing a bit and crumbling them her fist. She unfurled it. She let the wind take it from her.

Lena then threaded her fingers in the dirt, pulling up handfuls of soil, letting them sift through her fingers and hit the ground in a slow, arid hiss. She dug a little further - the soil covered her wrist until it looked she had sprung from the ground itself.

And then she found it. Smooth and cool against her dirt cover fingers. Lena laughed – short, bitter.

"Well, I'll be..." she muttered to herself, pulling herself free from the dust and the dirt. The sound of car tires crept into her ears.  Lena wiped her hands on her pants before making her way back to the front yard, where she found a black sports utility vehicle crawling its way toward the house. 

It slowed, pulling to a stop right in front of her. The doors open and a woman and a man climbed out. The woman blinked against the harsh sun and shaded her heart-shaped face with a dossier.

"Ms. Luthor, I presume?" the woman as she extended a hand in greeting.  Lena took it.  "I'm Dr. Lana Lang from Star Labs, Central City.  This is my associate, Dr. Peter Ross."  She gestured to the tall, broad shouldered man at her side.   Lena regarded him with a nod which he returned.

"Nice to meet you both," Lena said, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets.  "Thank you for coming out on such short notice.  I hope Emil wasn't put out by my request."

"Not at all," Lana replied, a smile forming on her lips. "Dr. Hamilton and your father were great friends.  He was more than happy to help..."

"Glad to hear it.  We might have some work ahead of us." 

Lena motioned at them to follow her. 

"May I ask you, what this is all about?" Lana began slowly. 

"This was our family's farm," she replied.  "But I have reason to suspect my father may have kept something here of interest to LexCorp and Star Industries."

"Here?" Peter asked incredulously.  "But it's so..."

"Barren?" 

When they reached Ma’s garden Lena immediately crouched down in the middle of it. She scooped up several handfuls of dirt and tossing them aside to reveal a brass handle.  

"I know we're all highly educated, polymaths but..." Lena gestured with her free hand at the ground beneath her.  Lana pushed on Pete’s shoulder.  He looked at her warily but she pointed a sharp finger at the patch of dirt.  He sighed, rolling his sleeve up his burly arms, and knelt beside Lena.  Together, they dug outward from the handle until they unearthed a metal storm door.

"W-what is it?" he asked as Lena hoisted it open.  A great swell of dust rose out, causing all three to fall back and cover their faces.   As it cleared, the huddled together - Lana clutching her briefcase even tighter against her chest - and peered at a ladder leading downward into a dark abyss.

Lena swept her hair over her shoulder and gave them a wry smile.

"Another mess."

~~~

After the incident at lunch, Alfred insisted that Kon rest.

"You are just overly tired," the old man said softly, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze.  "You have done so much just be coming here.  A little rest should help... both you and my silver."

But Kon was not tired.  If anything he had way too much energy.  He followed the kids -Stephanie, Tim, and Damian - silently as led him from the sunroom to their "wing" of the Manor.

"Here we are," Tim said when they stopped at the second to the last door at the end of a long corridor.  "This is you, Kon-El."

He opened the door and they all filed.

“Aw, I wanted this room!” Stephanie fussed, tossing herself onto Kon’s bed. After lunch, Dick, Cassandra, and Jason excused themselves. Dick had to return to Hudson College to meet up with some friends. Cassandra went into Bruce’s study to prepare for her next lesson. And Jason… Well, Jason just wanted to get out of the house.

_“I’ll be back later,” he shouted at Kon over the roar of his motorcycle. “I’ll take you out for a beer, kid!” Bruce clicked his tongue in disapproval but he was gone, tires squealing and gravel flying up in his wake._

While the other busied themselves with unloading the rest of his luggage, Kon made a beeline for the large bay window and pulled it open. 

It was freedom: expansive, endless blue of the sea and the sky sprawled out and onward like a gateway into the rest of the world. The Wayne Family manor sat on top of a cliff overlooking the bay that say between Gotham and her sister-city, Metropolis.  He could see the LexCorp Tower standing like a metallic beacon in the far distance.  It took everything he had not to run and jump off the cliff then; it took everything he had not to soar over the bay with the gulls, leaving the Wayne children behind with their bewilderment as Kon rocketed off to far-off lands.

“Hey.”

Kon blinked. Tim stared at him with that blank expression of his. Or at least, he thought it was blank. But he caught the slight crease in his brow and the down-turned corners of his sharp mouth.

“Uh…”

“You zoned out!” Stephanie shouted.

“O-ok,” he stammered slightly. She thrummed with a constant, delightful energy that sent a trickle of sweat down Kon’s ridged spine. He blinked. Then, smiled – his lips pulled taunt.

He felt something pinching his side.  He turned and found the youngest Wayne frowning up at him as he poked his ribs with his index finger.

“Damian!” Stephanie snapped, yoking the little boy up by the back of his sweater. “What is wrong with you?”

“The files on you said you’re half-alien,” Damian said. Well, more like accused. His dark eyes narrowed at Kon.  He did his best to return his glare with a well-placed, flawless smile.

If what his father had written about this family in his own dossier was true, then of course Bruce Wayne had files on him. Perhaps this is what Pa tried to warn him about but…

Kon nodded his head.

“Yes,” he answered. “I am half alien.”

Collectively, his audience’s eyes widened. Stephanie gasped and raised a hand to cover her mouth.

“W-what? Like… from outer space alien? Or like another country alien?”

“One of my fathers is from another planet,” the boy returned evenly. “But I was – uh – born _here_.”

“That is…cool,” Stephanie murmured in awe, her dark eyes shining.

Kon shrugged.

“I don’t see why this is a big deal though,” the Kryptonian continued. “The Justice League has the Martian Manhunter. It’s a big universe…”

“Yeah, but like, we’ve _never_ met one in person before…”

The slight spike in heartbeat. The faint scent of salt.  The jolt of heat.  They were lying.

Mercy would have told him to play his cards close. But Kon never played poker a day in his young life.  Hiding?  He loathed it.

“I don’t think that’s entirely true,” the boy said, looking at the three of them with a half smirk. He moved to sit on the edge his bed, the spring creaking under his weight. “For years, Pa and I have tested all sorts of military grade defensive equipment for Mr. Wayne that we thought we’d never see again until that is until it made it debut on the local 6 o'clock news.  You honestly thought I wouldn't recognize that high-density plasma shield in last week's battle against Intergang just because it was painted black and had a bat logo slapped on it?  And besides, you’re all the same age, gender and number as each of Batman’s partners: Batgirl, Red Robin, and Robin…”

He looked up at them. Damian’s glare deepened.

Stephanie was red from collar to crown, her bright eyes darting between her brothers.

And then, Tim… He…!

Kon blushed.

“Thank you,” Tim said softly, his face splitting into the most stunning grin. “I always hated the term ‘sidekick.’”

~~~

The bats twittered softly overhead as Bruce stared at the crumpled knife through the microscope.  It was a perfect imprint, capturing every wrinkle of the boy's palm - an abstract landscape rife with hills and valleys encased in silver.  He gently rubbed a cotton swab along the intricate lines of Kon's fingerprints, and placed his sample onto a new slide.

Soft footfalls, the faint clattering of china, and the scent of jasmine pulled him from his reverie.  Bruce tore his gaze from the scope and found Cassandra hovering behind him, holding a tea tray filled with a fresh, steaming pot of tea and cookies.

"Tea?" she offered.  Bruce thanked him as his eldest daughter pressed a hot mug into his hands.  He took a sip, closing his tired eyes as the welcomed heat filled his belly.

"Thank you."

"Tim and the others are in Kon's room with him," she said.  "Talking." Cassandra poured herself a cup as well before joining Bruce by his side.  He felt the boy's hand on his bicep as Damian inched closer for a better look.

"Is that so?"

"He's interesting," he heard her say. "He can do much more than ruin Alfred's silverware from what we've read about Kon... " 

Bruce smirked.  His daughter's soft, even tone did little to hide her wonderment. 

"The knife might not seem like much," he replied, motioning for her to come to his side.  "But even the most 'innocuous' things can reveal a lot, Cassie."  The girl stepped forward and looked through the scope, slight fingers adjusting the dials.

"So, you're looking at his fingerprints?"

Bruce nodded.

"It's not only about what's there but what's not," he explained.  "There's no oil residue, no skin particles - and the fingerprints themselves are impressions embedded within the metal..."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means he ruined Alfie's favorite silverware." They both look up as Jason's voice echoed through the cave and saw him descending the stairs.  He was dressed in most of his patrol gear, save his infamous red helmet.  When Jason reached the bottom, he asked: "And you sure you _still_ want to train this kid?"

"Absolutely," Bruce replied as his came to a stop beside them.  "If he's to live in the world-"

"You mean, if we're gonna find his weakness," Jason returned, his tone even under his lazy drawl.

Bruce frowned.  His older son threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"Come on, Cass," Jason said, trundling off in the direct of the equipment room.  "We got patrol..."  She glanced at her father before walking off after his brother.

Bruce watched them go, draining the rest of his mug before setting it aside before turning back to the microscope.   The lights flickered overhead and then went out.  The bats screeched, the flapping of their leathery wings resounding throughout the cave.

"Sorry, B!" he heard Jason cry.  "What switch did you even hit, kid?"

"Don't blame me for you own mistake, Jason..." Cassandra chided.

But Bruce ignored their banter.  He sat transfixed, staring as at the twisted knife that glowed ethereally in the fathomless dark.

~~~

Lex loosed his tie and stared at the scene before him as he stood in Kon's doorway.  He left his lab to find Kal dozing on their son's bed - his massive frame sprawled across the mattress; his too long limbs hanging precariously over its edges. He was still dressed in the clothes he wore from this morning when they had seen Kon-El off. 

He scratched at the top of his hairless crown and sighed. Lex then kicked his shoes off before stepping inside; where he tossed his coat and tie on top of the boy's desk chair. Lex padded softly over to the bed, gently moving Kal's feet aside, as he climbed on. He left his body sink into the mattress. It was soft. It smelled like windswept water from the bay, hair gel, and Zesti grape soda. Lex chuckled. At least his son inherited his sweet-tooth.

"Hey," he murmured, nudging the small of Kal's back with his knee.  His husband's eyes fluttered open - unfocused, muted. “You alright?”

"W-what time is it?" the Kryptonian mumbled, his sleepy tongue fumbling in his mouth.  Kal yawned and stretched, and Lex could not help but draw similarities to a tom cat his mother once had.

"It's ten o'clock in the evening..."

"Oh..."  His monosyllabic response hung in the air like a sword on string as Kal processes what he said.  "I have been sleeping all day."

"Obviously," Lex tittered as his husband rolled over on his side.  He flopped down and threw an arm over his husband's shoulder, pressing a kiss against his forehead.  "Is this why you never showed up to work today?"

"Work?," the alien asked as his eyes fluttered closed once more.  "I wasn't aware being a lab rat was work..."  The corners of his lush mouth twitched slightly upward.

Lex rolled his eyes.

"You _know_ you have money and that you can retire at any time, Kal," he grumbled.  "You just don't want to."

"Is our son still in Gotham?" the Kryptonian muttered, ignoring his spouse's terse reply. 

"Yes."

"Can he come home now?"

Lex grunted.

"Empty-nest syndrome is normal," he explained.  His husband grumbled incoherently, shifting so he could face his husband.  He pressed himself deeper into Lex's embrace, the faint scent of aftershave filling his nose.

"I just miss him."

"I know," he replied softly. 

“Bruce is terrible.”

“He’s not _that_ bad, Kal…”

He rubbed his hand in a circle on Kal's back.  He sighed and Lex could feel his entire body melting under his caress.  "It's only for one summer."

There was a stretch of silence - his husband's steady breathing was the only thing that could be heard.  Lex bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to find the words.

"Kon is growing up.  He just wants to live his life..." he began slowly, laughter hiding just beneath his measured tone.  "But if it bothers you so much, maybe you could 'retire' and we could just have another kid."

Kal made a noise - like a frustrated mewling - as he pulled back to look him.  His brow knitted together as his bright eyes searched Lex's face as inexplicable warmth filled his stomach causing it to roil in a mixture of desire, worry, and hope. 

"I mean, we don't have to do it _now_ ," Lex teased, his fingers falling away as Kal's shoulders rippled beneath his touch.  "But, I think it would be nice for Kon to have a little brother or sis-"

Kal pressed his lips against his husbands - stymieing his words.


	7. Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wayne Kids and their half-alien house guest are determined to have some summer fun! Alfred breaks out the pup-tents and the marshmallows. Bruce learns something new. Lena runs into a... problem.
> 
> Implied incest/child abuse trigger warning!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/11: Chapter totally updated and revised to fit new tone of story.
> 
> Implied incest/child abuse trigger warning!

He rose with the sun.

Kon folded his towel onto the rack next to the sink. He leaned on the edge of the porcelain bowl and bared his teeth like those Capuchin monkeys in the R&D lab. When he was sure his teeth and lips were free of minty fresh toothpaste, he trotted back into his bedroom and over to his dresser.

He yanked open his sock drawer and searched for his favorite pair. Kon’s knuckles brushed against the black jewelry box his Dad had given him. The boy’s fingertips ghosted across the cracked leather – rough and smooth. The bow emitted a faint but familiar warmth.

There was a knock at the door. Kon startled.

“Later…” he muttered. To himself or someone else, he was not entirely sure. He grabbed a random pair of socks and closed the drawer with a firm snap.

“Come in!”

The door slowly opened, creaking on its hinges. The top of a dark head poke itself inside, followed by a pair of indifferent, cerulean eyes.

“Are you ready?” Tim asked, sounding as bored as ever, as Kon flopped onto the edge of his bed.

“Just about,” he replied. He pulled them on and dashed over to the door, where he found Tim, Stephanie and Cassandra standing in the hall.

“Good morning,” Cassandra said her tone as enthusiastic as her brother’s.

“Yo!” Stephanie chirped.

Kon waved at the girls. He realized then that they were not in “uniform.” Tim paled in comparison. He wore a simple red t-shirt with dark green board shorts and slippers that looked fresh from a hospital ward.

Cassandra wore a shapeless, black dress that hung loosely from her tanned shoulders. Her inky black hair swept back, framing her ellipsoidal eyes. She was barefoot – her toenails painted in a canary yellow.

Stephanie’s clothing was as loud as she was: a violent mix-match of layered shirts and a pair of jeans in purple hues, ending in equally purple house slippers. Even her tow-colored hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a purple bow.

“Oh…” Kon said, his lips twitching. “Y-you really like purple…”

“I love it!” she practically squealed, causing the boy to wince. “And I see you love superheroes!” She poked him square in the middle of his Wonder Woman logo. “I love Diana too! She is so cool!”

“Y-you’ve met her?!” he asked, his voice cracking in excitement. Kon coughed into his fist to hide his embarrassment. “Of course… you guys have met her…”

Tim sighed.

“Come on,” he groused, scratching a dry patch on his elbow. “Let’s show him the cave before Alfred rounds us up for breakfast…”

He followed the children into Mr. Wayne’s study. Bookcases filled with thick, leather bound books line the walls. A threadbare Persian rug lay across the center of a darkly stained wood floor. A fire crackled and danced behind a singed metal screen; there was another portrait of the Wayne and young Bruce hanging over the fireplace.

Kon frowned. Logically, Mr. Wayne clearly had been a kid at some point. That was the natural progression of things. But –to him – it seemed like an odd sort of joke.

Stephanie skipped by him, pulling Kon from his reverie. She skidded to a stop by a white marble bust of William Shakespeare sitting on a shelf just to the right of the fireplace.

“Ready?” she teased, her teeth bared in a mischievous grin that nearly split her face in two. Kon narrowed his eyes as her hands rested on top of the bust’s crown. Through the stone, he saw a red button resting at the base of its neck; there were wires running from it through the base of the statue. He followed them until they disappeared into the wall. And then, there was nothing. Or rather, he could not see anything.

“As I’ll ever be…”

Before the girl could do anything, the fireplace slid backward into the wall and then upwards, revealing a flight of stairs leading into a void. The faint screech of bats and faint steps reached Kon’s sensitive ears. Bruce stepped from the darkness onto the Persia rug. His piercing eyes fell on him almost at once. The Kryptonian fought to keep himself from looking away.

“I said give the boy a tour,” he muttered darkly as the wall slid back into place behind him, swallowing up its mysteries with it. “Not divulge all of our secrets.”

“He already knows…” protested Cassandra.

“Of course he knows.” Kon’s teeth clicked together as Bruce’s irritation was apparent in his measured tone. “Please excuse my children, Kon-El. The cave is not a playground. They should know better than to invite someone down there without my approval first.”

“Oh, come on!” Stephanie groaned theatrically, throwing her hands above her head in a gesture of resignation. Cassandra and Tim stood quietly by, their eyes glancing at one another as if they were devising some unspoken plan.

~~~

“I hope it doesn’t rain,” Pete grumbled, hoisting his pack onto his massive shoulders. He craned his head upwards to the overcast sky. He heard thunder rumbling in the distance when they earlier drove over to the old Luthor Farm from their motel on the edge of Smallville.

“Aw, you’re just grumpy we have to climb into a big, scary hole in the ground,” Lana teased. She pulled on her own pack and closed the car door. “Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hand…”

Pete blushed. They walked around to the back of the house where Lena Luthor, donning her sunhat and texting, stood at the edge of garden. The metal storm door was open.

“Good morning,” she muttered a greeting to them as they drew near without looking up. Her eggplant-colored fingernails a near blur as they flew across the touch screen.

“Good morning, Ms. Luthor.”

“Lena will do…” she replied, tucking her phone away into her jacket. She smiled at them and nodded toward the hole. “Shall we?”

“I’ll go first,” Pete declared, puffing his chest out with dramatic flair. “If there are any monsters, I’m sure to scare them off, ma’am.”

“Good God,” Lana chuckled as Lena smirked. “Just get in, Hercules.”

~~~

Bruce summoned Aflred to chase Kon and the children from his study. The butler shooed them into the sunroom for breakfast.

Kon stabbed his fork into the small pile of beautifully scrambled eggs on his plate as Jack Ryder's contemptible crowing reverberated throughout the room.

"Metahuman Menace in America!" the reporter shouted snidely.  "Is Gotham being overrun with super powered scoundrels?!  Are these god-like gangsters infiltrating our schools?!  Could your neighbor be an unchecked overlord in disguise?!  This and more on the Jack Ryder Show!  But first, a word from our-"

The reporter's odious blathering died away as Stephanie gave the volume knob a violent twist.  She gaffed theatrically, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Thank you," Tim sighed from behind his book - a large tome of Oscar Wilde's works - as his sister retook her seat across from him.  "I felt like I was losing brain cells..."

"No problem.  I can't stand that hate-mongering cow," Stephanie replied.  She took a large bite out of her jam-covered toast; her scowl deepened with each chew.  "Who even put him on?"

Kon said nothing, his eyes focused on moving his food around with his unbent fork. He heard faint snort at his side. He glanced at Damian who was sitting next to him. His fingers wrapped around the handle of the china teacup as Alfred scurried over and poured a stream of cream into it.

"I did," Damian muttered, stirring his tea a silver spoon. "And Ryder's still got a point: some of them are dangerous." He was dressed – for some inexplicable reason – in business attire.

"You're dangerous," Cassandra countered around a mouthful of bacon.  The boy glared at her over the rim of his saucer.  She shrugged, wiping her greasy lips on the back of her sleeve. Alfred scoffed and dropped a napkin into her lap.  "I've seen you put more people in the hospital more than Superman and Wonder Woman combined, Dami…"

"Yes, but we're talking about people that could blow up a city block with a single thought-"

Kon crammed a piece of toast into his mouth, his eyes fixed on the roses just outside the windows as the shaker began to rock back and forth.  He took a deep breath.

"Joker tries to do that every other week with one his bombs though..."

The shaker jumped and began to roll across the table.  Kon went still - ice and fire filling every inch of his chest.  The children started arguing, their shouts resonating in the small room.  He watched in silent horror as it wobbled precariously on the table's edge.  He shut his eyes tight, his teeth clenching down on the prongs of his fork, when he felt a well-manicured hand catching the shaker as it fell.

"Goodness..." a deep baritone voice drowned out their squabbling.  The Kryptonian looked and saw Dick entering the sun-room.  He set the shaker back onto the table. A bedraggled Jason -barefoot and still wearing his pajamas- stumbled in behind him.   Kon bent his head and began to shovel Alfred's delightful rosemary potatoes into his mouth. 

"Mornin'," Jason mumbled as he shouldered past his older brother, ignoring his frown, and plopped into the nearest seat. The others muttered a 'good morning' Dick took his place at the head of the table. Alfred served them both at once.

"If Jay is up before noon, the world must be ending," Tim teased.

Jason gave him a rude gesture in place of a proper greeting before snatching-up a piece of bacon and devouring it with a crunch.

"Why you're back, Grayson?" Damian sniffed. 

"Well, mostly because I missed you all very much," he cooed as he pulled his napkin into his lap..  "But partly because Dad asked me to pick something up for him.  But what were you guys talking about just now?  It sounded interesting..." 

Dick winked at Kon as he plucked up the salt shaker and tapped a bit onto his eggs.  Kon looked away, deciding that his concentration should be on buttering his cooling toast.

“The Demon put that jag Jack Ryder on…” he heard Tim say.  The boy shut his book and rested it on the table.  "And he was being horrible as usual."

"Damian or Jack?"

"Both," Stephanie sneered.  Damian glared at her.

“Oh…” The monosyllabic dripped with disgust as Dick cut into his eggs. The scrapping of silverware on china plates underscored the brief, stark silence.  "“Jason," the man said slowly, his attention still on his meal.  "Why aren’t you dressed? Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

"Only because you and Bruce are making me," Jason mumbled, slumping down into his seat.  "After I was out all night on fucking patrol too..."

"Jay, language..." his older brother chided. "And that’s all on you. If you bothered to show up to calculus at all-”

"Whatever,” snapped Jason, his bicep flexing as he gripped his butter knife.  If I ever need to calculate the trajectory of me giving a shit, I'll use the 'bat' computer..."

Dick set his fork and knife against the table firmly, causing the others to jump. He glared at Jason, who happily returned his piercing gaze.

"I think it's time to go," Tim muttered as he tapped Kon on his arm.  The Kryptonian nodded and quickly gobbled up the last of his potatoes before following the others to safety.

~~~

Lana stumbled and fell hard against the compound wall. She pushed herself away – her bloodied hand print stark under the violently flickering light. Her boots scuffed against the dirt floor as she hobbled down the corridor toward the ladder – towards safety.

She winced and hissed as she reached up and caught the ladder rung.

Then, something took hold of her jacket. Lana looked over her shoulder and saw the girl: a slender thing – comprised of bone and sinew. Her tow-colored hair hung limply, a few of its strands were caught in the corners of her pale, chapped lips.

“No!” Lana screamed, hold tightly onto the rung as she could. “No! Someone help!”

The girl yanked her. Lana fell to the ground with a heavy thud. She rolled until she hit the wall.

“Stop,” someone growled. "We need one, you little idiot."

Clutching her side – wet with blood - Lana sobbed a pair of loafered feet stopped by her head. The room was nothing was shadow and light.

“I am sorry about your friend,” he said as he knelt down, his knee creaking.  The man – or at least she hoped it was – ran his hand across her flush face, brushing the errant auburn hairs from her red-rimmed eyes. “Peter was it…?”

Lana’s lips quivered.

And then, she screamed.

~~~

He watched Jason from the window as the boy stomped down the steps and half-loped over to his motorcycle in the drive.  Alfred dutifully passed him a brown paper bag ("Lunch," Kon thought to himself.  And then, with a small twinge in his heart: "School lunch.") as Jason climbed onto his bike.  He stuffed the bag into his backpack before it roared to life - like a wild beast made of steel and petrol - before he peeled away down the gravel-covered drive and through the iron gates.  The old man turned on his heels and disappeared out of Kon's sight.

"I'm bored!" Stephanie shouted, her muscular legs draping over the back of the sofa, her hair cascading onto the hardwood floor.  Kon started, turning to look at her from his post by the window.  They retreated to the den and decided to watch some television while Bruce and Jason settled their differences through a shouting match.  But that was several hours ago.  Lunch came and went - as did the umpteenth episode of Judge Judy - and the Wayne children refused to move.

"We could train," Tim suggested from the recliner in the far corner, his face hidden behind his book again.   "You could use it given the way you fight..."

Kon swallowed thickly as he unfolded his hands in his lap.

"And what's wrong with the way I fight?" she hissed, swinging right-side up to look at him.  
  
"You wield your staff with the grace of a wounded hippo..." Damian chimed-in. 

"Listen, I hit the bad guys and they go down and they stay down!" Stephanie said firmly, her arms folding across her chest.  "That's all that matters!"

"She does hit pretty hard," Cassandra muttered, pushing her sister's legs off her lap as she sat up.  "But we should do something...fun."

"Read quietly?"

The others groaned loudly.

"You're just the worst," Stephanie moaned.  "I might change my mind about training... Just so I can hit you in the face for that..."

"Um, so, I am not much into hitting people," Kon smiled weakly, scratching at the hairs on his nape.  "Can we, um, do something that doesn't involve that?"

The girls glanced at each other.  Cassandra brushed her dark hair from her eyes as she turned to look at him. 

"Like?" she asked.  "Is there something you want to do?"

Kon chewed on his lip.

"Let's go outside and like do or something... maybe like camp out...there," he started to explain.  "And you guys have all that lawn that like stretches all the way to the cliffs and stuff.  I thought it would be nice..."

The children stared at him.  They said nothing but their thoughts written all over their faces.  His belly filled with molten lead again. 

"I'm in," said Cassandra, pulling herself from the sofa.  She gave Kon a small smile.  "I'd like to try this 'outdoors' thing."

"Alright, if you're in, I'm in," Stephanie announced as she flipped herself right-side up.  "I'll ask Alfie to help us set up tents and stuff.  He'll love having us out of his hair for an evening anyway.  It'll be nice!"

"Nice?" Damian scoffed.  "Sleeping outside in the dirt like animals is nice?"

"Think of it as training, Lil' D," she teased, ruffling the boy's dark hair.  "Review some very basic survivalist stuff.  We'll make a fire and roast marshmallows."  She led him away and out of the den in search of the butler.

"Tim?" Cassandra asked as she stretched tall, her joints cracking pleasantly. "Are you game?"

Kon blinked.  He had nearly forgotten that Tim was even in the room as he spent most of the day reading.  Kon glanced at him from his perch on the window sill and saw the boy peering back at him - his eyes immutable.  And then, Tim winked and folded his book closed in his lap.

"Fine," he muttered, feigning indifference despite the corners of his mouth twitching.  "But I get dibs on the first s'more."

~~~~

The girl propped up the headless corpse in the corner of the room like a morbid scarecrow.    Lena bit her lip, the taste of copper stinging her tongue, as she stared down at the great scarlet swath smeared just under her feet.

“God, Kara,” Lionel muttered.  He raised his foot, frowning at the blood coating the bottom of his leather loafers. “Find the head and clean this up.”

She said nothing and hoisting what was left of Pete over her slight shoulders and floating off to an adjacent room.

“You know,” he started slowly, turning to face Lena – tethered to a support beam. “I never quite got a hang of mind control when I was still 'alive…' It would have made raising you and your brother so much easier, if I did.”

Lena sneered.

“Fuck you.”

“Language.”

As he strode over to her, Lionel stepped over Lana’s unconscious form. The poor woman’s breathing was shallow but was breathing nonetheless. He snapped his fingers and the floating blonde reappeared.  He pointed at Kara and pointed at something just behind Lena – just out of sight. S he struggled against her bonds – the rope fibers biting into her skin and she strained to look around the concrete pillar.

“Put her inside,” she heard her father order. “She’ll be ready to go in the morning, I think.”

Kara hovered over to Lana and lifted her up on the collar. She flew off, dragging the woman’s prone body along with her.

“Aliens,” Lionel chided, clicking his tongue. He stopped in front of his daughter.  Lena strained her neck, trying to see what the girl was doing with Lana - trying to keep her face as far as she could from Lionel's. He wrapped his calloused, cold fingers around her jaw.  Slowly, painfully, he turned her head until their eyes met; bruises blossomed along her jawline from his grasp.  “It’s so good to see you, Len…”

Lena stared at him. It was the same face – not a day older than when he supposedly died. His hair, trimmed short and red like smouldering fire.  Creases decorated the corners of his hazel eyes and around his cruel, sneering mouth.  Her teeth clacked together behind her lips. 

“You’re all grown up,” he said, his hand landed softly on her shoulder, causing Lena to start.  Slowly, he slid it down onto the curve of her arm. The knuckle of his thumb brushed against side of her breast, pressing against its fullness before falling away.

Lena pursed her red lips together and then, spat right in his eye.

Lionel smiled – a genuine, loving smile – and dabbed at his face with a handkerchief.

“Well, then…" he cooed, training his piercing eyes on her angry face.  "How’s Mercy?”

~~~

Alfred had their tent up in less than an hour.  He hauled it down from the attic and aired it out across the back lawn. 

"Master Wayne used to camp out in the yard when his father was alive," he explained, driving the spikes into the ground with a swing of his sledgehammer.  He paused and wiped his brow on the cuff of his sleeve. "He taught him all about the stars..."  Kon thrummed with excitement.  They were like the tents one would find on a safari from a time where films were black and white and silent. 

He watched as Damian and Cassandra built a fire from scratch, using twigs and a log.  He would have offered the use of his heat vision but Grandma Lana stressed keeping some things a secret.  He laughed as he speared a marshmallow on a skewer and held it over the open flames.  It burnt - bubbling   They stuffed themselves with s'mores until the sun sank beneath the shore.  The winds coming from the bay drove his human counterparts into the tent.  Kon followed after them, giving the stars a mournful look as he pulled the flaps shut.

Tim immediately planted himself in the far corner of the tent, where he, Kon, and Damian had laid their sleeping bags.  He pulled a book from his backpack and began to read.   The others flopped down onto their sleeping bags, scrubbing away the sugary mess off of their hands and faces. 

"Why does your brother have summer school?" asked Kon.  He kept his eyes on the cover of Tim's book as the girls changed.

"Because that one can't be bothered to learn stuff he's got no interest in," Damian muttered.  "If Jason isn't having fun, it's not worth it..."

"Why? I thought like... Well, isn't school supposed to be kinda fun?"

"Fun?" Stephanie laughed as she wriggled into her sleeping bag like a fleece-clad caterpillar.  "It's like prison but for children!"

"Steph is being dramatic," Cassandra intoned.  "It can be a little confining though..."

"It's tedious!" Damian hissed.  "And the uniforms are uncomfortable; the food is subpar; the teachers are all fools..."

"I dunno," Kon said sheepishly.  "I mean, yeah, the homework sucks but..."

"But what?"

"But you like... you like get to make friends and stuff." 

"What about you?  D'ya go to school?" Stephanie inquired, smacking her sticky lips.  Kon shook his head.

"Nah," he muttered.  "My family wouldn't let me..." 

"Why not?"

Kon started.  His eyes darted away from her piercing stare as he watched their shadows on the tent wall.

"I... dunno," he muttered, his voice barely registering over the roar and the crackle of the flames.  "I think it was too dangerous when I was little.  Meta and all..."

"I get it but..." Cassandra interjected, her pouting face propped up on her pillow.  "...if I had half the powers Wonder Woman had, I'd use them all the time.  She can lift armored tanks and open any jar of pickles she wants..."

Kon smiled. Pa would not approve of him using his heat vision to warm up a burrito….

"Hey, so like can you run really, really fast like The Flash?" Stephanie chirped.  "Oh, my God!  Can you run with one of us to Big Belly Burger in Central City?"

"Er, if he runs with you going that fast, you might break your neck," Tim spoke up, still hidden from view by his book. 

"Whatever... Kon, like do something!" the girl half-shouted, waving her hand at him. "Please?!"

"Why are you encouraging this?!" snapped Damian.  He set his sour expression on the Kryptonian; the disdain obvious in his young eyes.  "His parents would not let him go to school - let alone outside of LexCorp.  And yet, you want him to show us some of his metahuman parlor tricks?"

Kon pressed the tip of his tongue pressed hard against the ridges of his teeth.  He exhaled deeply and, without a word, leaped from his sleeping bag and tore from the tent.  He could hear the others behind him as he marched silently to the edge of the cliff.

He looked down.  The sea hurtled itself into the craggy rocks below - its great waves beating against the cliffs.  Kon stood on the edge, his toe curling over the salt-coated rock, the wind whipping around his body as he raised his arms high.  As Kon leaned forward, ready to surrender himself to gravity and his Kryptonian nature, when he felt something tug on the back of his sweatshirt.

"I hope you know what you're doing," a voice asked in the dark.  He turned around and saw Tim's bright eyes completely wide with worry.  "You don't have to prove anything to us..."

"Oh... um..." Kon replied, scratching his chin. "I can.  So..."  He gently pried the boy's fingers away.  He threw a glance at the others over his shoulder before tumbling forward and out of sight.  Stephanie's shrieks echoed above him as Kon swooped out and away just before he hit the rocks.  He rose in a great arc, rocketing past their shocked faces and into the night sky.  As he rose into the air, Metropolis came into view - perched on the bay - shimmering and waiting for him like an open invitation.  Kon's chest felt tight as the LexCorp central building towered above the rest; its logo radiating neon light like a shining beacon.

"Kon!" he heard someone shout.  Quickly, the boy floated back down to his - to his friends?  Kon stopped short of a few inches above the ground, hovering quietly, as he beamed down at the other children.

"Well?" he asked, the grin growing across of his own face.  "How was that for a parlor trick?"


	8. Fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lana endures. Lena provokes. Kon pleads. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, implied Sexual Assault/Rape Mention, Kidnapping, Physical Abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Kara is roughly 15, even though she is technically in her forties.
> 
> \- I might edit this later. I just wanted to put it up... ::yawns::
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, implied Sexual Assault/Rape Mention, Kidnapping, Physical Abuse

Kara stood by her master as he typed away on a monitor.  Lana squinted  around the test tube she was "examining."  Lionel was writing a code of some kind.  He had very little else since he captured Lena and herself a few days ago. 

The girl wheezed - air escaping from her lungs like the low whine of a tea kettle.  Her mouth was slack; saliva trickled over the red slit of her cracked lip and landed with a muted splat between her blackened soles of her feet. 

"God," Lana hissed, the rope burning the skin of her wrists as she tugged against her bonds that held her fast to her station.  "What is wrong with her?"

"Side effects of the mind control," Lionel muttered, his mind on his work.  He paused and pushed the googles from his eyes as he looked the girl up and down.  He pat the girl on her knee - an gesture of affection that rang false.  The girl did not move.  Her ethereal eyes glowed faintly in the dimly lit bunker, exaggerating the gauntness of her cheeks.

Lana sighed and tipped the contents of her test tube into another.  It fizzled and then calmed.  She did not know what she was making, but she knew that as long as she was making it, Lana was fit to live.  When she had the courage to ask, Lionel only replied that it was some sort of neurological agent.  For all she knew, Lana could be making the same substance that kept Kara under the man's sway.  Carefully, she placed it along with the others on the rack.  Lana looked up through the curtain of her overgrown bangs as she reached for a flask. 

Lena sat on the floor, bound to a stone pillar with several lengths of chain, staring at the dark stain that stretched across the floor as she tapped the tips of her fingers against the dirt smudged pad of her thumb.

The girl let out another wheeze causing Lana's own bones reverberated in her flesh.  She looked away, biting the corner of her lip. 

"I think that's it for today," Lionel declared, clapping his hands together. He stood from where he had been perched, his knees creaking slightly.  "We all deserve a trip to the house, don't you?"  He beamed at Kara.  She stared on at nothing, more spit trickled from her mouth.

~~~

"I... It was dark.." the boy protested weakly. "...I s-swear no one saw us..."

"Us?" Lex asked, his tone seeking, accusatory.  "Kon-El Alexander Luthor, did you fly around carrying _other_ people?"

Kon felt himself wobble.  Bruce - who stood beside him - rested a heavy hand on his shoulder.  The boy swallowed thickly - his Adam's apple bobbing slightly in the hologram's glow.  Slowly, Kon nodded.

"I... I was c-careful..." he stammered.  Heat pricked the back of his eyes as he bit down on his lip.  His throat felt so tight; it strangled his already shaky words.  His dad's usually smiling mouth now twisted into a furrowed frown, his brow creasing deeply like waves rolling over a stormy sea.

"Mercy will come to get you this afternoon," Lex said solemnly.  "Please pack your things." 

His father's response was certainly enough to make Mr. Wayne release his grasp.

"Lex, I still want your son to stay,"  the man said exasperatedly, his hands outstretched.  "This is why he's here after-"

He fell quiet as his friend shook his hairless head.

"No, he's just not ready, Bruce." he replied, folding his arms across his chest.  "Kon, your powers are not for play.  What if someone got hurt?"

"No one did though..."

"That is not the point, young man!" snapped Lex.  "You need to think about the consequences for your actions.  Not everyone is built tough like you.  What if you had dropped someone?!"

"Then, I would catch them!" the boy shouted back, meeting his gaze.  "What was the point of making do all of those training exercises and tests and drills and-"

And that's when Kon heard it:

_"Kon, nahn voi, nahn voi..."_

Just off screen: his Pa's voice was so impossibly clear, so incredibly gentle.   Lex sighed and was shouldered out of view, allowing Kal's imposing figure to step into full view. 

"Look at me, te unahte..." the Kryptonian cooed softly, his gentle visage filling Kon-El with calm.  "It's all right..."

Kon shook his dark head, swiping at his tear-strewn face with sleeve of his shirt.

"I am sorry," he murmured.  Though he possessed strength imaginable, Kon cursed himself for still being at his parents' mercy.  "Please don't make me come home..."

"Then, you must promise to behave yourself, nahn nahvruht, te unahte?"

"Yes, Pa..."

"But even birds must fly..." Kal's gentleness gone as he focused his gaze on Bruce.  Wayne glared back, setting his jaw tight.   "Part of the agreement, as I understood it, was that Kon-El would live _and_ train with you and your family.  But surely, you understand why this is important."

"Of course-" A soft thud caught the man's ear.  Bruce paused, his eyes darting to the side.

"Then, give my son a place to be himself as you promised me and my husband," the Kryptonian said coolly, taking advantage of the man's lapse.  "It is foolish of us to think that my son will be able to use his powers in the real world without an opportunity to practice doing so..."

Kon looked up at him with his wide, red-rimmed eyes.  Bruce attempted to smile.

"I was about to suggest that we start tomorrow night," he ground out between his clenched teeth, lips curled into a half sneer.  "I have invited a special guest - a mutual acquaintance that I think will be instrumental in helping your son refine his powers during his time here."

"Who?"

"He is someone you've both met before.  When Wonder Woman and I invited you to join the League."

Kon scrubbed his eyes and frowned, catching the look exchanged between his parents through his watery glare.

"Pa, were _you_ going to be a member of the Justice League?!" he asked, his voice cracking.

"I..." Kal trailed off, glaring at Bruce for a moment before softening his gaze as he turned it toward his only son. "She invited me when she visited the LexCorp.  I told them 'no' at the time because I was raising a rather 'precocious' little boy."

"You met Wonder Woman!?" Kon shouted causing everyone to cover their ears.  Lex edged his way back on screen, his face - cheek-to-cheek - pressed against his husband's.

"You better have not invited any of those damn Green Lanterns!" he snapped.  "Especially not that ginger with the terrible bowl-cut or the other one that was dating some under-aged alien girl!"

"Hal's no longer with the League," Bruce said firmly.

"Could you please give us a minute alone with our son?" Kal said, pushing his husband aside once again.

Bruce nodded and stepped away, allowing the boy to speak with his parents.  English gave way to their mother tongue, with even Lex chiming in with his stilted but equally affectionate Kryptonian.   He caught sight of the smile that grew on Kon's ruddy face and Bruce felt a lightness in the middle of his chest.

He wandered off to the back of the library - an area that held first edition, leather bound tomes of Great English playwrights and poets.  As he rounded the corner, he found something other than respectable distance:

"Tim."

His second oldest son sat on the carpeted floor with his back against the shelves; books open and piled around him like a makeshift fort.  The pressed his index finger finger against his pursed lips.

"What are you doing in here...?" Bruce asked, his eyes narrowing.

 ~~~

He let them shower and he let them change clothes.  He promised them a night in a nice, warm bed - even a home cooked meal. Lana sighed as she led the girl from the bathroom and into the hall.

He made her text her parents, a few co-workers.  She could still the barrel of the 9mm pressing gently against her temple as he instructed her on what to type.  Lena had done the same.

_This trip is taking longer than I thought._

_Pete and I are doing our best.  We should be back shortly._

_Pete._

_Peter..._

"...they died."  

Lena's voice pulled her from her reverie just as they reached the stairwell.  Lana clutched the splintering banister.  Kara stood by her side - silent and vacant.  Her young flesh still steaming from the bath she had given her.  Carefully, Lana removed the towel from around her neck and draped it over the girl's expressionless face.  She sank quietly onto the top stair.  Gingerly, she slid down on to the next one and the next one, until she could see the top of Lionel's umber mane.

"You're lying."  Lana heard him say.  His voice was like a rusted steel cable run across polished glass. 

"Then, let me tell you the truth," Lena said, her apologetic tone mocking.  Her food was untouched.  "I put them down like dogs and sent their corpses through an incinerator." 

A stretch of silence filled by the faint scraping of silverware over ceramic.  And then, a great clatter.  The sound of flesh on flesh rang off of the painting-peeled walls.  Lana willed herself to move, inching slowly down each creaking step for a better look.

There was Lena sitting with her hands resting on the table's edge.  Thought her face was immutable.  Her left cheek was bright red where Lionel had struck her.  Red wine was quickly pooling in the center of the table, threatening to flow over the edge.  The man snatched his daughter's napkin from her lap to stem the flow.  He righted the glass, setting it roughly by her plate.

"I hate it when you speak like that," he said, slipping back into his seat.  He tossed the wine-stained napkin onto the floor at his feet.  "You've always been a disgusting little girl."

"Apple doesn't fall from the tree,"  she returned evenly, her fingertips digging into the wood of the table.  "But I am not quite as rotten as you are.  You _used_ that boy like you  _used_ me...!"  Lena grit her teeth and dug her chipped, polished nails into the wood of the table. 

"Watch your mouth." 

Not a threat, but a dark hope.  

Fear was foreign to Lena.  She sucked her teeth and sneered before continuing:

"You let your wife die of fucking stage four ovarian cancer-"

"How dare you..." Lionel growled.

"-because you were too busy making your fortune and fucking your secretary, like some lazy cliché," Lena pressed on, pushing back from the table to glare at Lionel.  "All the while, holding to innocent people - one of them _your_ own grandchild - hostage in a bunker like some lunatic!"  

Chairs, plates, cutlery hit the floor as the table flew sideways.  Lionel squeezed her throat, glass and ceramic crunching under foot as he seized the column of Lena's throat and lifted her clear out of her seat.  The woman let out a strangled roar, her nails digging into his hand and coming away with blood.  Lana thundered down the stairs, nearly knocking the girl over. 

"Stop it!" she screamed as she launched herself at Lionel, pulling at his arm.  "God, stop it!"  She hit him with her fist, striking whatever she could - his face, his neck - as she tried to free her friend.  She struck him with the heel of her palm across the nose, earning a pained grunt as Lionel stumbled back.

Lena pulled herself free from his grip and fell to the floor.  Rivulets of blood poured from her knees as she knelt hard onto the broken plates and glasses. Her pained gasps underscoring Lana's yelping as she struggled to free herself.  Lionel growled and shoved Lana aside.  She tried to brace her fall - hands reaching out to catch herself but she only ended up cutting her palm open on the shards of a dinner plate.

"Your problem-" he snarled down at his daughter.  "-is that you never understood that greatest requires sacrifice!"

"And what greatness did you find in imprisoning children, Lionel?!" Lena fired back.

"A fortune 500 company you and your brother live and work in today!" her father bellowed back, swiping at the sweat-matted strands of red hair plastered to his forehead  "I have made this family rich; I have made this family strong; I have made this family powerful!"

"No, you haven't..." Lena said softly.  "You made _me_ all of those things.  _You_ are dead _._ I rule the very world you built!"

The man said nothing.  He wagged his finger at them, as if he had stumbled onto a great discovery - eager to share his solution to the conundrum that was his daughter.

"A tongue like a knife," he muttered, folding his arms across his chest.  "...cutting through to the truth, even if you cut your own throat doing so!"

Lena only stared back at him - her bright eyes narrowed and gleaming with anger.

"Kara!" Lionel barked, turning his back on them and her gaze.  The girl hovered down the stairs.  "Take them to get cleaned up and then take them to their rooms.  Make sure they do not leave until I come for them in the morning."

Lana carefully wrapped her injured hand around a cloth napkin before the girl herded them off and up the stairs.  It was a blur after Lana remembered helping Lena up the stairs.  She remembered the faint hiss the woman made as she poured rubbing alcohol over their wounds.  She remembered falling onto rough cotton sheets.

They lay in the darkness. 

The need for sleep overtaking her own fear as they listened to Kara's labored gasping.

Lena's breath hitched.

Lana sighed, clutching her gauze wrapped hand close to her heart.


	9. Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim clicks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Since there is no "Superman" in this universe, everyone is a Wonder Woman or Martian Manhunter fan... as we all should be.
> 
> \- 4/12/16: This is a real update.

Tim rolled over onto his side, his sheets twisting around his bare legs like a makeshift cocoon.  The night sky - or what he could see of it through the breaks in the clouds silently floating by - told the story of whole universe and the sound of the waves meeting the rocky cliff sang sweet, simple lullaby.

He snorted. 

"Ridiculous," he mumbled, kicking his legs free and swinging them over the edge of his bed. 

He thought waxing poetic would bore him to sleep but sleep would not come - especially not when Bruce's furious face flitted across his mind.  God, his father was livid when he found out Kon-El had taken them flying.  Well, perhaps "flying" was too strong of a word as they only rode on the boy's broad shoulders while he hovered a foot above the perfectly manicured lawn.

And their father was less than pleased when he found Tim huddled in the back of the library, listening to Kon's father giving Bruce the dressing down of his life.  His lips twitched.

Tim toed on his slippers and quietly padded across the room to his window.  He and his siblings faced worse dangers.  Joker personally dropped Tim no less than into his piranha tanks on at least three different occasions.  And during one of those times, Harley strapped a dirty bomb to his chest!

He reached out, grabbing the handles when he saw it - two shadows leaping onto his balcony.  They thundered past, the interlopers' bare feet slapping softly against the moonlit marble.  Tim opened his window and stepped outside.  No shadows.  As he stared into the black bay waters, he heard it:

"...thought...send me..."

Carefully, Tim climbed onto the stone banister, sprung forward and landed gracefully on Kon's balcony.  As he drew near the boy's bay window, he noted the ethereal blue glow peeking out from beneath the curtains.

"Kon?" he called out, his fingers cool as they wrapped around the brass handle.  "Are you still up?  I am coming in, ok?"  He gave it a twist and the window creaked open.

The light vanished as soon as he slipped inside.  Tim heard a whoosh crossing the darkened room before the lights flickered back on.  He shielded his eyes against the glare.  When the adjusted, he saw Kon leaning against the dresser - the top drawer slightly open.

"Oh, it's just you..." the boy muttered as he folded his sinewy arms over his bare chest.  The teary-eyed boy being scolded by his parents in the library was gone.  He wanted to laugh or hug him out of sympathy.  But Tim did what he usually did when emotions were involved - nothing.

"Who were you expecting?" Tim replied coolly.  The room was pitifully normal - a few articles of clothing strewn over the back of his arm chair; a small pile of sneakers peeking out from the closet door. But in the short week that Kon had stayed with them, the boy hung a poster of the Justice League and Black Canary's Band.  There were some books he borrowed from the library piled on his small reading desk: a physics textbook, an anthology of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, and a copy of "A People's History" by Howard Zinn.

"Your sisters." 

"Cassie and Steph are visiting you in the middle of the night?" he asked, striding slowly across the room and sat onto the edge of the boy's bed.   "Is that why you're topless?

"I am a perfect gentleman," Kon returned, a simper pulling on his lips.  "I only took my top off _after_ they've left the room."

"I see..."

Tim flopped backward onto his bed.  A a bit of white fluff peaking out from underneath Kon's pillow caught his eye.  He reached out and gingerly caught it between his thumb and forefinger.  Slowly, gently, he tugged on it until it produced a white stuffed dog.  It was worn - the fuzziness around its floppy ears was almost threadbare.  There were streaks of clear, hard plastic where the black glossy finish had been rubbed away.

"Who's this cute little guy?" he inquired, holding the dog high above him.

"Oh, uh..." he heard Kon explain.  There was a soft rush of wind as the boy hovered into view, pulling on a t-shirt.  The Scare Tactic's lead singer - Scream Queen - was on the front of it.  "T-that's... that's Krypto."

"Krypto?" Tim asked.  He tossed the toy into the air a few times, catching it by its ear before it hit his chest.

"Hey!" the alien chided.  Tim blinked and the dog was gone, back in its owner's hands.  Kon gently placed him on top of his pillow. "Be careful.  He and I have been through a lot together..."

The boy's eyes were soft as his fingers lingered the ratty thing's nose.   Tim looked away as a tightness blossomed in the middle of his chest. 

"Sorry." 

"It's fine."

He felt the bed dip as Kon sat next to him and saw him drawing his legs up against his chest out of the corner of his eye.  Tim turned just the boy rested his chin in the valley of his knees, his eyes fluttering shut.  Kon's lashes were impossibly long, casting graceful shadows over the apples of his cheeks.  The way his hair curled slight at its ends softened his chiseled face.  For moment, Tim thought he looked so young.  Well, they _were_ young but still...

"Bruce said you're training with us tomorrow," he half-whispered, his fingers inching closer to the cuff on his guest pajama leg.  

"Yeah?" the boy replied.  "I hope it goes ok..."

"I am sure it will."

"I've got more in the arsenal than flight and super speed..."  He paused, opening his eyes and shifting his head to look straight at him.  Tim swallowed thickly under Kon's stare.  "...I'll do my best to be careful but... I'm worried someone will get seriously hurt.  I've only ever trained with with robots."

"I am not worried," he returned, pulling himself upright.  He shifted closer to Kon, their elbows touching as Tim moved to sit with his back against the wall.  "If Krypto's made it all this way, then I'm sure we'll be fine too."

The boy said nothing, turning his gaze toward the still-open window.  He set his jaw, staring out into the star-strewn void.

The night sky still told the story of whole universe; the sound of the waves meeting the rocky cliff still sang their sweet, simple lullaby.  Tim did not laugh at his sudden sentimentality.

~~~

Night turned to day.

Titus trotted after Alfred, as his human shuffled into the main foyer.  The door went "ding-dong," "ding-dong."  That meant another human wanted to come inside and say "hello" and pat him on the head and talk to his other humans.

He sniffed the air, trying to pick up the new arrival's scent.  It was clean but heady like the red clay courts by the rose garden and also smelled slightly of smouldering wood.  It was familiar but strange.

"Open it!" Titus ordered.  His Alfred smiled down at him for a moment before turning back to the big wooden door.  The man pulled it open.

There - framed in the late morning light - was a man.  He was tall - taller than Alfred - and wore that thing on his head called a "hat."  He had on a big "coat" too.  The man said "Good Morning, Alfred!" and Alfred said it back as he moved aside to allow the man to step inside.

Now that the new human was in the house, his scent was utter fantastic.  Ozone rolled off from the man in huge waves and Titus whined.  He sat on his rump and waited.  He wanted to lick the man's dark, bronze skin and taste the morning air.

"And hello to you too, Titus," he greeted.

"Good morning!" he barked back, hopping back onto all of fours.  "Did you know we have a new friend?!  Would you like to meet him?!"

"Quiet," Alfred commanded.  Titus whined a little bit, his feelings hurt.  He was just saying "hello."  "I apologize, J'onn."

The man laughed.  He took off his coat and hat and placed them in Alfred's outstretched arms.

"Titus is a good boy."

"I am!" he replied, running over to the man's side.  Carefully, he pressed his nose against "John's" hip as he scratched his head.

Alfred returned.  He and the man walked away - their "shoes" going click-clack, click-clack across the hard ground.  Titus followed after them, he walked all the way with the men into Big Boss's room.   The door was open already.  The door that led to the bats' home and the Big Boss' favorite room

"They are all downstairs, waiting," he heard Alfred say.  

"And our guest?"

"Waiting upstairs in his room until Master Bruce calls for him.  Now, if you would follow me..."  Alfred waved his gloved hand and both men stepped inside, Titus on their heels, before the door shut immediately behind them.

~~~

Kon slipped into his containment suit, pulling the stretchy material over his muscular legs.  He never fully understood the point of these things.  Spence said it was to monitor his vitals; Roquette claimed it was because he went through clothing like water.  Fine.  Kon could admit that some of his favorite t-shirts had been thoroughly shredded during his LexCorp training sessions.  But by Rao, it was snug.

He gracelessly adjusted himself, before pulling his arms through the sleeves. 

There was knock.  Kon, using his tactile telekinesis, zipped up the back of suit before waddling over to his bedroom door.  He opened it and found Jason - the second eldest son - standing in the hall.  He was tall, maybe even as tall as his Pa, with shoulders that went on forever in either direction.  Kon swallowed thickly as he peered down at him with cool blue eyes. 

"Come on, kid," he said, waving his hand.  "We're ready for ya."


	10. Manhunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Batman brings along a friend for Kon-El. Kal begins to clean house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but I wanted to give you lovely people something! Busy summer!

The morning sun found its way through a crack in the blinds as a tendril of golden light landed squarely in the middle of Kal's face.  He groaned and attempted to roll over but sleep hampered his movements.  Kal's body felt as if it were filled with wet sand as he struggled to pull his duvet up over his head.

The night before was a exercise in futility.  Sleep was elusive - especially when Kal sought it out.

An image of their Kon-El flitted into his mind's eye soon after that - his bright eyes rimmed with tears as he pleaded to stay. 

Faint laughter penetrated the shield of his duvet and his little boy's heartbroken face dissipated like rising smoke.  The edge of the bed dipped ad the sweet scent of Lex's after shave and french-roast coffee tickled his nose.

"I thought you were solar-powered," Kal heard his husband teasing him from above.  The Kryptonian muttered several curses in his native tongue as a reply and received a playful swat on his hip.   

"Five more...hours, please," he muttered back. "I'm exhausted."

"So, about that..." he heard Lex say.  The man's fingers peeked over the edge of the duvet and slowly peeled it back.  Kal blinked against the harsh light as his eyes adjusted to see Lex's concerned face peering down at him.  "I want to say 'sorry' for yesterday..."

"For what?" Kal asked, pulling himself up into a sitting position.  He scrubbed his eyes, rubbing away the haze of sleep.  Lex seemed sullen - deep wrinkles lining his hairless head and his lips pushed outward into a slight pout.

"For reacting like that..." he continued, his voice growing quieter with each syllable.  "I...I want Kon to see the world but-"

"-you want him to be safe, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Good," Kal said firmly, the corner of his lips quivering slightly as Lex looked at him in confusion.  "I am glad we're finally on the same page."

"Excuse me?"

"This is our son who firmly believed that your Nana's urn was a suitable cereal bowl; who used a sniff-test for his week old socks and still put them on regardless of the results; who we caught drinking from the fire hose in the lobby because the "kitchen" was too far to walk - and now please remember, our child can goddamn fly."  His husband's expression was caught between absolute horror and the desire to howl with laughter- he screwed up his lips into an awkward frown.  Kal caught himself smiling too.  He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from roaring himself.

"And all I've ever done is pat him on the head and send him off on his next 'adventure,'" Lex confessed.  "He could have dropped one of Bruce's four thousand kids into the Bay... We would have never heard the end of it!" 

Kal allowed himself a chuckle.  Lex rolled his eyes as he stood up to leave.

"Off to work...?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lex muttered as he grabbed his things.  "I have a meeting with someone from S.T.A.R. Labs.  Lena poached a couple of their people for _whatever_ she's doing on our old family farm and they haven't reported back to them in a while."

"She's just busy."

"I know, I know..."

Lex waved goodbye and Kal watched him go until he was gone - the soft click of their bedroom door echoing in the quiet of the room.

 ~~~

"Woah, is that a dinosaur?"  Kon's awe echoed through the quiet of the cave, causing the bats to stir.  They beat their leathery wings, letting out the occasional soft screech as the pair passed beneath their craggy perch. 

"A _robot_ dinosaur," Jason corrected him.  "The Bat's got a damn museum dedicated to all of the morons we've knocked around throughout the years."

Kon nodded absently, his fingers lingering on the edge of the giant copper penny.  It was cool to the touch.  He saw the infamous Mr. Freeze's ray gun, The Joker's razor-sharp playing cards, and The Riddler's cane and bowler hat.  There were many other trophies - an oriental-looking sword, a blood-red cylindrical helmet, a pair of black leather gloves with diamond tips claws.  Some he knew.  Some he did not.

"Come on, kid," he heard Jason order.  Kon quickly floated after him.  "The others are just down here."  They traveled down a set of stairs obscured by the Batmobile that led to an arena of some kind.

Bruce's entire brood lined up in the center of the training area, adorned in their full vigilante gear.  Kon held his breath:

The Bat, Nightwing, Red Robin, the Black Bat, Batgirl, and Robin - the all stood in a row beside their mentor and father.  Jason left his side and took his place among them, carefully stepping in between Dick and Tim.  They held their heads high and arms crossed behind their backs.  The only one that betrayed their collective austerity was Stephanie who smiled pointy-ear-to-pointy-ear.  She grinned so hard Kon thought her cheeks would burst open.

"You passed the first test, Kon!" she shouted, breaking ranks.  "You found the place!"  Black Bat nudged Stephanie in her side, earning a derisive snort from his sister as she slid back into place.

"Is that you under there, Cassie?" he asked.   Cassandra lifted her mask over her nose and smiled.  Tim gave him a quick 'thumbs up,' which Kon returned.

"Yes."

"Quiet," Bruce commanded.  They all fell still, waiting for him to continue:  "As of today, you will be working together with us.  You will be required to train everyday, to undergo various tests to gauge your abilities and their growth, and to be assigned daily chores that must be complete per my and Alfred's rigorous standards.  Do you understand, Kon-El?"

"Yes, sir!" Kon said, snapping to attention and landing fully on the ground. 

"Good.  But before we begin, there is someone you need to meet.  He'll be helping us out."

"Who?"

"A friend.  John, if you please."

A man - a tall, broad shouldered Black man - rounded the corner of a pile of crates by the training dummies.  He had a kind, familiar face and soft brown eyes that shimmered gently even within the dimly lit cave.  Kon liked him instantly.

"My name is John Jones," he greeted, extending his hand as he drew near.  The young Kryptonian stepped forward took it right away.

"Um, I'm Kon," he said.  He felt suddenly shy, blushing as John beamed down at him.  "Nice to meet you."  The man inclined his head.

"The pleasure is all mine," John returned gently.  "I am looking forward to working with someone who is a little bit more... like me."

"Someone... like else like _you_?"

"Bruce," the man called to the Bat, his gaze unwavering. "...would it be alright...?"

Batman nodded.

"A moment, if you will." 

The man took a step back, drawing in a deep, steadying breath.  As he exhaled, his rich, umber skin melted into emerald green; the dark brown, tight curls that blossomed across his crown faded away, revealing the equally emerald expanse of his crown. His limbs and torso extending, lending even greater height.  A red 'x' appeared across his, the pieces draping over his broad shoulders unfolding into a red cape unfurling in an unseen wind like the wings of a bird.

"Rao..." Kon muttered, his jaw trembling, his eyes impossibly wide.  "You...you're..."

"Yes, young one," the once-a-man said, his voice reverberating throughout the hollow of the cave.  "I'm also the-" But his announcement was cut short and as Kon launched forward and threw his arms around his waist.  They fell to the ground, the air leaving John's lungs.  He craned his neck, blinking owlishly as the young alien boy - sporting a Cheshire's grin - held his tight.

" _THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with the chapter because I didn't want to write it! Lol!


	11. Mallrats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kon and the kids hit the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's try this again. Finally. An update.
> 
> The Batkid's origins are CLOSE to being the same as the pre-Nu52 era but with a slight difference.

Their test complete, Kon and J'onn floated upward the stalactites.  The boy's soft laughter echoed slightly off the cave's walls.  The Martian regarded him with a smile as Kon twist and turned about him.  His body was fluid and graceful - every inch of muscle made visible in his sleek containment suit. 

Tim tugged at the collar of his uniform.  He suddenly felt overly warm.  His free hand stumbled across the keyboard as his gaze darted back and forth between the holoscreen and the Kryptonian boy.   

"You're practically drooling..."

Tim flinched at the rush warm breath against his ear.

"Cut it out," he grumbled, digging his elbow into Jason's side.  His brother grunted and returned the favor with a punch to his shoulder.  "I'm busy.  Going away."

"I don't think so, my little stalker~!" Jason teased.  "I saw you climbing through Kon's balcony window last night..."

Tim felt a blush creeping across his cheeks.  He fixed his gaze on the screens before him - ignoring his brother's smirking face in its reflection.  Tim sucked his teeth and entered the last of the data with a violent jab of his gloved fingers.

"Nothing happened!" he hissed hotly between clenched teeth.  "And if anything did, it's none of _your_ business..!"

Jason chuckled and punched him in his shoulder before striding off.  A new heat bubbled up inside of him - smouldering, burning.  Tim yanked off his cape and his gloves, letting them fall to the cave floor.  As he pulled at the zipper at his throat, a familiar shadow fell over him.  Tim froze.   

"So, how did I do?" he heard Kon's voice directly over head.  Slowly, Tim tilted his head upward and saw the boy hovering just above him.  Their faces were entirely too close as Kon beamed down at him with that megawatt grin. 

"Uh..."

"Did I pass Daddy Bat's flight test?" he asked as alighted by his side, their shoulders pressed together as the boy read the data on the screen.  Red Robin glanced away to watch J'onn and Bruce speaking quietly by training mats.  "Aw... Only a 90.783% pass rate..."

"Y-your left turns are a little wide," he stammered in his reply.  The smell of fig filled wafted past his nose.  "But you're fast.  T-that's for sure."  Tim opened the videos and selected the first file.  Kon watched - wide eyed and mouth agape - as he flew expertly through rings of holographic light.  Bruce wanted to measure his dexterity and speed during flight and their guest met even his father's stringent expectations.   Kon winced at the moment when he shoulder caught a stalactite that sent him nearly careening into the cave wall. 

"I'll get a perfect score next time," he announced, nudging Tim in his side.  "But, I kinda owe you for today."

"Uh, for what?"

"What you said about -uh- Krypto," the boy continued.  He scratched his nape, looking slightly sheepish.  "I kinda of... It really helped me.  In a weird way.  I thought I was gonna mess up and blast a hole through your secret layer with my heat vision or something... Pa would be so pissed."

"You're welcome, I g-guess?" he fumbled, before half-croaking out a stilted laugh.  Kon laughed and threw an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a quick sidelong hug.

"Bruce said we can have the rest of the day off!" he heard Stephanie shout.

Tim looked up and saw his sisters running toward them.

"I wanna go to the mall," Cassandra announced as they approached.  "I want some a new book to read with Barabara..."

"Me too!" Stephanie chimed-in.  "I want get one of those, like, meat tornado burritos and see that new animated film about crime fighting dolphins!"

Kon's arms slipped from his shoulders.  Tim sighed - from relief or displeasure, he did not know.  He caught the boy blinking owlishly at the girls, his mouth forming a slight frown.

"What...is a...'mah-al?'" Kon asked slowly.

Tim and his sisters turned their gaze onto Kon, who simpered shyly at them in return.

"'Mall,'" Cassandra corrected him.  "It's a place where people go to shop, eat, and enjoy various forms of entertainment."

"But....you can do that here," Kon countered, gesturing to the whole of the cave with his arms.  "You are super rich - you can buy things online; you literally have a bowling alley, a beach, and a movie theatre; and Alfred will cook you anything..."

"Alfred has his limits!" Stephanie shouted.  "He refused to make me a sea salt pretzel stuffed with nacho jalapeno cheese and spicy chorizo!"

Tim saw Kon's mouth go agape.

"That sounds...so delicious!  I want to try it..."

"Oh, we're going to the mall right now!"  She turned on her heel and marched off toward the exit.

"Should we be following her?" Kon asked. 

Tim exchanged a weary look with Cassandra before peeling his sweat-soaked cowl from his head.

~~~

People. 

There were people everywhere - all shapes, sizes, colors, ages.  Kon nearly took off the tip of his thumb as he bit into the last bite of his slider as group of teenage girls walked by.  The fact that there were women - people! - under 30 was still mind-boggling to him.

"Told you the mall was cool!" he heard Stephanie sing-song, pulling him from his reverie. Their tiny table held everything the mall's food court offered.  So far, Kon had sampled xiao long bao, pulled pork sliders, and all 31 flavors of ice cream.  The Wayne kids quietly chewed on their on meals.  Cassandra selected a fruit smoothie; Stephanie was making quick work of some pizza; and Tim carefully dissected his burrito.

Kon took an enormous bite from a pretzel that was calling to him.  Flecks of orange nacho cheese coated his mouth.

"Vrao!" he managed between mouthfuls of salty dough.  "Dis is amabzing!"

"Try this churro..." Cassandra insisted, pushing a basket of sugary fried dough in his direction.

"So, you don't eat stuff like this at home?"

"Well, my family won't let me 'processed' foods," he paused to pantomime quotation marks with his still greasy fingers.  "At home, we have a 24-hour on-call kitchen for the compound with six person chefs on rotation.  And everything they make is organic - even the Zesti!"

"Geez, and here I thought Bruce was rich," Cassandra muttered between sips of her smoothie.

"Your family never orders out?  Or like goes out to dinner?"

"Never!" the boy paused, suckling the cinnamon and sugar of his churro from his fingers. 

"So, you've never had like nuggets from McDonalds?!  You've never had the never-ending bread sticks at an Olive Garden?!  You've never had a Cinnabon?!"

"Steph, I have _never_ left Lex Corp Park until, like, now..."

"Never?"

"Not once."

"Not once ever?"

"No," Kon replied calmly as he snatched up a hot dog and crammed it into his mouth.  "Neber eber."

"What if the entire compound caught on fire?"

"Then, I guess my Dad would make me stay anyway because we're really, really fireproof..."  He let out a half-chuckle as the thought of him and his Dad standing half naked and thoroughly charred in the burned down space that was once their penthouse.

"I think it's because he's never been outside of any of the buildings himself..." he continued, his greasy lips in half sneer.  The rest of his food lost its appeal.  Suddenly, Kon's stomach began to churn.  He scrubbed at his mouth with a paper napkin, balling it up and stuffing it roughly onto the now empty tray. 

"Wait..." Cassandra began slowly, her lips falling away from her straw.  "So, your father - your Pa - has never been _outside_?"

"Like, only once and that was a long, long time ago," Kon explained, absently waving a chipotle dusted fry in her direction.  "We have tunnels that connect to all of the buildings, like for snow storms and stuff.  They are lined with UV lamps, so he doesn't get sick.  I mean, he and my Dad had their honeymoon on campus.  They were in a building that simulates different climates and stuff.  They spent two weeks in the Bahamas without being in the actual Bahamas...."

"That's fucking wild," Stephanie muttered.  Tim and Cassie cast her a dark look as Kon's chewing slowed to a stop.  The boy bowed his head for a moment, his shoulders shaking ever-so slightly.

"W-well, that's what happens when you've been a lab rat all your life..." Kon returned, his tone sharp.  He scrubbed at his mouth with a napkin, ignoring their curious stares.

Tim's throat felt tight as he saw Kon blink away a small tear before he continued:  "It... it's ok though.  I mean, no one's parents are perfect!"

The din of the food court filled underscored the tense silence.  The shouts for free samples, the squeals of children riding on the merry-go-round, the fussy chatter of elderly men about the prices of coffee - it filled void. 

Tim turned toward Kon and said:

"I was raised by nannies until my parents died.  I can honestly count the times when I actually saw and interacted with them without exceeding my fingers..."

"My dad was a third-tier villain," Stephanie groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.  "Killed, like, fifty people.  He's in Blackgate now.  My mom is awesome but she is still battling an opioid addiction..."

"The League of Assassins raised me," Cassandra chimed in.  "I was raised - literally - to wield a sword and never speak a word..."

"And now she won't shut up," Tim teased.  Cass picked up a rogue french fry and threw it expertly at her brother's face, hitting in the middle of his forehead.  "Hey!"

Kon said nothing - the roar of the Food Court filling his ears.  After a few moments, he cleared and cleaned their table, returning to his seat after tossing out their trash.

"Thanks," he said, his fingers twisting in the hem of his tee.  "I've...never really had anyone to talk to about _this_ before."

"Talking is great but a little retail therapy is even better.  Right, guys?" Cassandra offered as she stuffed her hands into her dress pockets.  "Could use a new book..."

"I will go with you!" Stephanie shouted, shoving her brother in his direction. "The boys wanna go see a movie instead!"   She looped her arm around sister's and they skipped off before the others could say anything.

Kon turned to Tim, who glared at the empty space the girls once occupied.  He noted that he tips of his ears were bright red.

"I think... I wanna see that film about crime-fighting dolphins?" he offered.  "It sounds like fun..."

Tim made a face like his burrito have gone bad.

"Fine," he grumbled.  "Let's go..."

Kon smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to re-read my own story - lol - because I thought I kept that scene with Kal being outside. But the point I wanted to emphasize is that Kal has NEVER been outside in the open. 
> 
> Meaning, he's never left the campus at all. In fact, he simply goes to other buildings underground. If he wanted fresh air and real sunlight, he just opens a window and stands/sit near it. 
> 
> He suffers from a type of "social agoraphobia," in which he still strongly associates the idea of violence as a response for "stepping outside of his boundaries," even though everyone loves him and tells him it's totally ok.
> 
> He's still very traumatized.


	12. Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: Allusions to child abuse. 
> 
> A/N: Verb tense change is intentional.

It is a familiar sensation, the comforting looseness that consumes her weary bones.  The rope burns on her wrists are forgotten as Lena sighs deeply and her mind begins to raise like the hot, rising Kansas' air as her body slowly succumbs to sleep.   Images appear, flickering in and out like the fireflies she and Lex used to chase on summer nights.  Finally, she finds one - a memory-dream that will allow her to stay.

~~~

_Lena's teeth click together in annoyance as her brother mutters under his breath for the umpteenth time._

_"You gonna help me read these or not?" she asks, her airy tone doing little to hide her irritation.  Lex stops his muttering and plucks up a new batch of medical records.  The sound of turning of pages and the occasional hiss of a kettle take place of any conversation. Lena's mind wanders to their guests as she flips through another file.  Mercy has taken them to their new living quarters - a spacious bedroom with an even more generous bath - leaving the twins to search for anything that would reveal their identity.  Lionel's secret floor was filled to the brim with alien artifacts covered in equally alien scrawl.  From what Lena has read so far, she knew her father had kept Kal captive since his infancy...  
_

_Her rage is hampered by the thought of the little boy - 'Connel' as the older one calls him - squealed with delight as they showed him the sky for the first time in his young life.  His tiny hands reaching for the stars as he giggled and bounced on Kal's shoulders.  
_

_"Oh, uh... hey!" Lex sputters, pulling Lena from her reverie.  She sees him shoving his files onto the table, his knee catching the end of it as he shoots up from his chair, his face is the color of a baboon's rear-end.  Lena gnaws on the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, though a knowing smile tugs on the corners of her mouth._

_"Is everything ok, Kal?  Are you two comfortable?"_

_He only nods his head, his eyes trained on the kitchen floor tiles._

_"Mercy helped us," he replies softly.  "Thank you... But..."_

_"W-what's up?" she hears her brother half-stammer.  His body's stance odd - stuck between a pounce and crouch, Lex looked like he is torn between fleeing or embracing the young man (Out of guilt? Comfort?  He has always been the more sensitive of them both.). "Do...do you need- is there s-something wrong?"_

_"I know you are looking for answers," he begins.  Kal's thin fingers wrap themselves around his mug._ " _I am not human nor am I from Earth..."_

" _Well...that explains alot," Lena said.  "You and the little guy are both aliens?"_

_Kal's grip tightened._

_"No..." he began slowly.  "Kon is... Kon is half human..."_

_"Half?" the twin ask, a perfect echo of each other.  "Half of who?"_

_Kal takes a deep breath, his hands unfolding from his cup, he presses them flat against the table.  He glances at Lena briefly, before turning his ethereal gaze on her brother..._

_~~~_

The morning comes and Lena is thrust from her dream.  She clutches the bit of broken cup hidden beneath her pillow and listens for Lana's grumbling before letting go.  The same thing everyday: ten minutes to shower, fifteen to eat, in the "hole" by six.  Lana and Lionel sit at their stations.  The former mixes chemicals as per the orders of the computer program Lionel consults.  All he ever does is sit.  He types and reads lines of an odd, alien-looking code ( _Kryptonian,_ she mentally notes.), cursing something called Vee-rill-dox under his coffee-scented breath.

Lena attempts to burrow a hole through the back of his head with her gaze.  Sadly, nothing happens.  It goes on like this - for a week, a month - she cannot tell as their days are spent mostly in darkness.  But then it comes: their chance.

Around the 14th day, the blonde is unwell.  Kara pants, her waif-like body trembling with each reedy breath.  Lionel barks at her and the girl half stumbles and floats away to a near by cot, where she lays down.  Her wheezing is starching against the oppressive silence.

"W-we should get her to the h-house," Lana suggests, resting the flask on her table.  Lionel lets out a growl and slams down his instruments.

"You two, get her up then!"

The women gingerly take the girl by her arms.  They carry her, following after Lionel.

The key clicks and they reach out and push up, throwing the hatch doors wide.  Lena grimaces at the sudden deluge of sunlight. 

"Sorry," she whispers into Kara's ear.  She glances at Lana and they hurl the girl's limp body onto her master.  Lionel shouts and crashes down against the ground with a bone-snapping thud.  The women scramble out onto the wind beaten dirt.  Lena runs.  She grits her teeth and presses forward, half dragging Lana behind her as they make for the bleached cornfields.

Lena can see the black tar of the road ripples in the heat.  They are close.  Gunfire sounds off behind them.  She looks over her shoulder for a moment, their feet still racing across the sun bleached grass.

Lionel is baring down on them, rifle in hand.

"Go!" Lena shouts at her companion.  Lana hesitates.  Her eyes are hard as Lena shoves a hand into her dress pocket and pulls out the mug shard.  Lana swallows thickly before she darts off. 

Lena stands alone, the sounds of Lionel's approach growing near.

She lunges at him, hoping to cut him or tackle him to the ground but his strength is inhuman.  He father grabs her by the wrist and yanks - her shoulder pops.  Lena feels herself fall backwards, her body crashing onto the ground.  She curls into herself as Lionel's foot catches her side.  The wind is knocked out of her lungs - she cannot scream.  Something strikes her temple and the world is black.

~~~

_"I...Kal... Kal asked me to marry h-him!"  
_

_"I know," she replies coolly, taking a sip from her morning coffee.  It's only just 5:30am and Lena has a meeting in fifteen minutes.  But her twin insists on having his personal crisis during her personal time.  She peers at him weary over the rim of her mug and says: "I helped him pick out a ring online."_

_"W-what? No!  But -I mean, we can't..."_

_"Why not?"_

_Her twin waves his arms about his head, as if the gesture means anything to her._

_"Our father kidnapped him and experimented on him and did God-know-what else to him and-"_

_Lena shrugs._

_"What does that have to do with this?"_

_Her twin casts a stunned look her way._

_"I... What if he's asking because he thinks he has too?  I don't want Kal to ever feel like this is something he must do to, like, survive!"_

_She sighs.  His fear is not unreasonable.  But she knows her twin is oblivious to any sort of positive affection..._

_"Well, did you ever stop to think that maybe he asked you because he honestly likes you as a person?  I mean - gross."_

_Lex throws an oven mitt that was sitting on the counter at her.  Lena deflects it easily._

_"W-what about Kon?" he protests.  "Is...did he ask because he thinks that if he leaves, I won't take care of our...our son?"_

_She pauses, glancing briefly at her watch.  She's got five more minutes before Bruce and Dr. Irons arrives._

_"Lex, do you love Kal?"_

_"Of course."_

_"Enough to be his husband?"_

_"Of course!"_

_Lena drains the rest of her coffee and rests the mug in the sink.  She clasps her twin's shoulders, locking her gaze with his own._

_"Then, there's your answer, you dummy."_

_~~~_

Darkness parts like a curtain, rising up until Lena's view is nothing but a grey mass.  She groans, her vision clearing.  She is back in the hole, staring at the pock-marked surface of the concrete wall.  Lena hears something before she sees it.  There an awful clicking sound - like an insect rubbing its legs together.  Lena can see a massive shadow cast against wall.

"Kara's never responded to these treatments..." she hears her father muttering just out of sight.  "Your concoctions made her ill!  I can't use her body!"

"Then, we simply keep her under our control..." the shadow speaks, its voice like sound of fingers stabbing angrily against a keyboard.  "For now, we have one _other_ option."

Lena tries to turn on her side.  She wants to see - she needs to see it.  But her body is heavy, weighed down by exhaustion and drugs.

"Good," she hears her father reply.  "Then, we can begin..."

_~~~_

_Lightning streaks across the sky, as the rains beat loudly against the window.  Lena lies in her bed, thinking of all the things she must do in the morning as the storm rages outside._

_Her bed dips suddenly.  Her stomach tightens, her muscles tense._

_But it's not the same._

_For one, she is a grown woman now.  And the hand that reaches for her is entirely too small as it wraps itself around her own._

_She breaths a sigh in relief as her nephew face comes into view.  
_

_"Are you ok?"_

_"I...I'm scared..."_

_Lena reaches out and cups Kon's tear-streaked face.  She wipes them away with the pads of her fingers._

_"It's ok.  Lightning and thunder?  They can't hurt you.  Not in here."  
_

_Kon's sniffling echoes softly in the darkness._

_"C-can I stay w-with you?  Dad and Pa are still on their honeymoon next door..."_

_"Of course."_

_Kon climbs into bed and nestles at her side.  Lena draws him in close.  His hair smells of bubble gum shampoo.  Kon's sniffling stops, his breathing becomes even and slow._

_She holds him tight as he drifts off to sleep.  
_

_Lena's heart is over full._

_And then, there is nothing.  
_

~~~

A few kernels of popcorn slips from his hand.  Kon rubbed the corner of his eye, brushing away a small tear with the back of his hand.

"Hey, are you alright?"  Tim asked, fistful of popcorn hovering nears his frowning mouth.  "I mean, I know one of the puppies didn't make it..." 

Kon gave him a watery smile and shrugged.

"I think, I'm just tired..."


	13. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kon is in a bad mood and Alfred is just the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I MADE A PROMISE AND I KEEP-ED IT!

As the anthropomorphic dolphin police officer shouted its catch phrase for the umpteenth, Kon became time hyper-aware of the holo-phone burning a metaphorical hole in his jean's pocket.  He jiggled his legs, eyes darting from Tim shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth and the ridiculous plot being playing out on the projection screen.

"Hey, I'm gonna use the restroom," he whispered into the shell of Tim's ear.  He barely had the time to turn in Kon's direction before he leapt from his seat.  Kon scrambled over the legs of the other patrons, taking the stairs two at a time as he burst from the dark of the theater and into the hall.  His sneakers scuffing loudly against the polished floor of the lobby as he broke into a half-trot toward a lounge.  Kon flopped down onto the nearest, pulling out his phone and opened the home-screen before selecting a recent contact. 

He drummed his fingers on the case as the phone rang a few times before going to voicemail:

_...this is the personal phone of Lena Luthor.  If you are not my twin brother, my bodyguard, my brother-in-law, or my adorable, precious nephew, hang up.  If you are, please leave a message after the beep..._

"You owe me a burger," Kon huffed and ended the call.  He tried a few more times before giving up.  He tossed the phone onto the seat next to him.  His body felt too loose and too constricted, not knowing if he wanted to fade way into the cracked-leather couch or rocket through the roof of the mall, showering the people before in drywall and concrete. 

There was a shout.  He looked up and saw patrons filing into in the lobby.  He watched the crowd shuffle onward, a river of people flowing past.  Kon closed his eyes, letting their murmurs wash over him, when something clasped his shoulder.  He started, nearly jumping from his seat when he looked and saw Tim staring down at him - the boy's brow wrinkled with concern.

"You alright?" Tim asked, sliding into the seat next to him as his hand slid away.

"I don't know," Kon answered honestly.

"That film sucked," the boy offered, moving his hand to fold them in his lap.  "I'd leave too."

Kon shrugged.  He chewed the inside of his cheek, his eyes falling back to the passing crowd. 

"I texted Alfie.  He's coming in ten.  The girls are already outside," he heard Tim say.  Kon nodded, grabbing his phone and shoving it back into his pocket before he climbed to his feet.

~~~

They arrived just before dinner.  Alfred drove through the wrought-iron gates and over gravel as he slowed by the front door.  The ride home was a silent one and Kon spent most of it staring at his phone or looking out the window.  The children clambered out, sprinting up the stairs.  Kon trailed behind them, his hand hovering clutching his phone as he exited the car.

As he approached the main door, Kon felt a hand at his shoulder.  Alfred gave him a small smile.

"Is something wrong, Master Luthor?" the old man asked.

"I dunno," he replied.  Alfred nodded.  Kon could feel his eyes on his back as he ascended the stairs.

Kon closed the door behind him.  His pulled his phone from his pants and tossed it onto his bed when he saw no notifications.  He sighed, kicking off his shoes, tearing his clothing from his body as he made his way to the bathroom.  Kon climbed into the shower and turned the water on, letting it cascade over him.  He sank to the floor as that odd feeling began to form in his belly.  Kon folded over onto himself, resting his forehead on the valley of his knees.  

It had been such a pretty good day.  He got to be a 'normal' boy and hang out with other 'normal' teens at a perfectly normal mall.  It was everything he had ever dreamed of - a perfect sitcom episode played out on every show he had ever watched as he lived in his literal ivory tower.  So, then why did he feel like he wanted to raze the manor to the ground with his heat vision?  Why did he feel like he wanted to rage and hurl the county of Bristol into the sun?

Kon sputtered as water trickled into his nose.  He sighed and stood up, reaching out to turn

"Shit," he grumbled, pouting down at the slightly crumpled lever.  With his thumb and forefinger, he smoothed it out, shut off the water, and stepped out. 

He made straight-away for his bed, grabbing his phone before crawling beneath into the haven of his duvet, uncaring as the water soaked into the sheets.  He pulled the duvet over his head, shutting out every bit of light.  Kon could feel his skin - each follicle, each vessel, each cell - shiver with hunger.

He glanced at his phone.

No messages. 

He called Lena again, only to get her voicemail.  Kon hung up.  He scrolled through his contacts before he selected one.

His fingers a veritable blur as he composed a message.  He waited, breath held tight in his chest as he waited for that telltale ping echoed in the dark.

But it never came. 

Kon exhaled, shuttering his eyes.

~~~

The Wayne clan gathered around the dining table to eat dinner.   Bruce frowned, his girls and Tim were unusually quiet ( _Especially Stephanie_ , he thought to himself.) after their outing.

He observed Tim pushing his food around his plate.  Stephanie played a game on her phone, ignoring her meal completely.  Meanwhile, Cassandra read her book, taking careful bites to prevent food from spilling onto its fresh pages.

And Kon-El... Kon had not come to dinner at all.  Bruce eyed his empty seat for a moment before turning his attention to his own meal.

"Where's the alien?" he heard Jason ask, his words a distorted by a half-masticated mouthful of food.  Leave it to his second-eldest to be blunt (as he was with everything.) and rude.  "Aren't we required to feed him or something?"

"Please chew with your mouth closed, Master Jason," Alfred gently chided.  "And his name is 'Kon' - not 'alien.'"

"Yes, and he while likes to eat, he only needs to eat occasionally," he heard Damian chimed in, slightly annoyed by the boy's tone haughty.  "...unlike gluttons like _you_."

"Hush," scolded Bruce.  His youngest pouted as Jason snickered under his breath.  "Is he unwell?"

"He's just in his room," Stephanie spoke-up.  "He was in a mood."

"A 'mood?'" his father asked. "Did something happen during your outing?"

Stephanie shook her head. 

Cassandra shrugged.

Tim stabbed at a sprout, his fork missing its target and scrapping loudly against the fine porcelain.

"And what is going with _you three_?" Bruce demanded.  "Should I call his parents?"

His children continued to ignore him.  Bruce looked to Jason who had an genuinely vacant look on his face.

"Did you get into an argument?" he pressed.  "Did Kon hurt some-"

Tim slammed his hands down, rattling the everything on the table.

"No," his son replied curtly, anger in his eyes  Tim sighed, pushing back in his chair as he stood up.  "I'm going to my room.  Thanks for the food, Alfred."  Tim stalked from the room before Bruce could protest.

"Oooo, you made Tim mad!" Jason sing-songed before devouring the rest of his lamb.

~~~

Kon opened a bleary eye when he heard a knock at his door.  He groaned, pulling himself upright as he groped for the light.  Switching it on, he slipped his legs over the edge of his bed, suppressing a shiver as the contact from the cold floor raced its way up his spine.  Kon pulled on a pair of boxers he had slung over the back of his desk chair before opening the door. 

He found Alfred standing there, arms full with a well-packed dinner tray.

"May I come in, Master Luthor?"

"Of c-course," Kon replied sheepishly.  He opened the door, allowing Alfred to enter.  He began to grab random of articles of clothing strewn across the floor and his furniture, stuffing as much as he could into his hamper.  "I-it's a little messy."

"Not as messy as than Master Tim's," Alfred reassured him as he set the tray on his nightstand.  "I am quite sure he has not seen his carpet in several months..."

Kon chuckled.  Alfred smiled.

"Are you unwell?" the butler asked, his wizened face writ with worry.  Kon shrugged.  He simpered softly.

"I don't kno-"

"Young master," Alfred said gently, cutting him off.  "Please, do not feel as if you need to hide things from me.  I can tell that something troubles you.  Do you..." Alfred began slowly.  "...wish to return home?"

"No!" Kon snapped, cutting him off.  He froze, eyes wide before his expression reflect the shamed he felt for raising his voice.  "I'm so sorry.  I'm just..."

"Homesick?"

"But I shouldn't be homesick..." Kon protested, wrapping his arms around himself.  "I should be happy, right? You're all so nice to let me stay here with you guys.  I feel like Tim, Cassie, Steph, and I are becoming friends.  And I got to train with one of my favorite superheroes - no offense!"

"None taken," chortled Alfred.  "However, I assure you that your affliction is both commonplace and curable.  It perfectly natural for anyone to miss their family, while living their lives and enjoying themselves far from home."  He lifted the metal cover from the tray, a heavenly scent wafted over Kon, instantly lifting his weary spirits.  "I prescribe roasted lamb with brussel sprouts and rosemary mashed potatoes."

"T-thank you," he uttered softly.

"I also recommend a health dose of good company," continued Alfred.  "Jason and I will convene in an hour for the evening news and a cup of cocoa.  Can we count on you to join us and provide us with some colorful commentary?"

"S-sure!"

"Excellent!" Alfred exclaimed.   He gave Kon a small bow before leaving him alone to eat.  Overcome by the sudden realization of his hunger, Kon scrambled back into his bed and pounced on his dinner.  He bit into the roast and it made him feel warm inside.  As Kon chewed, he heard a soft ping.  He fished around in the duvet until he found his phone.  Pulling it out, he check his messages.  A smile blossomed on his face as he finally received his long-awaited reply:

_I didn't forget!  Back in Metropolis soon.  Big Belly Burgers on me! <3, Auntie Lena_


	14. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason is the boss. Kal and Lex consider a personal expansion to their family. Lana gets a lift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited as of 1/6/18.

Sleep clung to Kon-El, anchoring him down in its grasp.  The chittering morning-song of the bird flitted through his shuttered windows; the sounds of the Wayne's scurrying along the hallway just outside his down seeped into his subconsciousness.

Kon willed himself to move - a finger, a toe, the tip of his nose - but his body lay prone, warm and soft underneath his nest of duvets.

Mercy once told him that this sensation was called "the Devil sitting on your chest."  His Dad laughed and explained it was just "sleep paralysis."  Kon sighed - indifferent to their explanation -  as he floated between two worlds.  The footfalls slowed and then stopped.  Snippets of a hushed conversation slipped through the barrier of his bedroom door.

There was a knock.  Kon willed himself to move but nothing came of it - his telekinetic field equally hampered by his exhaustion.

"Let him be," Bruce's voice echoed in the endless black.  "You can check on him later."

The greyed light of the morning, the sounds of the Waynes and the bird faded into black nothingness as Kon slipped down, down, down into another dreamy abyss

~~~

A laser beam rushed past the shell of Kal's ear as he tumbled in the air to avoid it.  He righted himself, flying like a shot between a volley of laser beams that landed with an explosive crash against the targets behind him.

"Support drone 2 is out?!" Spence's shouted echoed over the loud speaker. 

"After five hits?!" came Roquette's growl.  

Kal smirked, body twisting and turning down each blast.  He launched himself forward - body stretched long and reaching like a jungle cat - and took hold off the gun turret, the tempered alloy crumpling in his grip as Kal ripped it clean off of its platform.  He turned, lifting the burnt out shell of the turret in the path of an on-coming beam.  But the laser torn through his makeshift shield, striking him in the stomach.  Kal grunted and stumbled backwards.  Using the momentum, he found his foot and hurled his burden into the second turret causing it to explode on impact. 

"Kal?!" shrieked Spence. 

"Is he hurt?" Roquette uttered.  "I'm calling medi-"

"No, need. I'm fine," Kal grumbled, pulling at the singed fabric on his abdomen.  It crumbled away between his fingertips.  He grimaced at the bright red patch.  Naturally, it did not hurt -  _much_.   "We can let Bruce know his fancy new ray-gun can melt armored tanks but only mildly annoys Kryptonians..."

"Then, I think we should conclude our tests for today," Roquette said.  "We'll see you tomorrow."

Her directive came across as more like a query.  Either way, Kal had already floated towards the exit, his fingers lingering by the burn. He entered the hall and found himself caught up in a swarm of scientists scurry between the labs.  He decided to skip the locker room and return home.  A few of them waved as he strolled back to the residence tower.  Several asked about Kon-El, to which, Kal gave them shrug and a lopsided-smile, along with assurances that LexCorp's favorite son was (hopefully) well.  One asked him, if he had seen Lex.

He had not.

In fact, Kal realized that had not seen Lex in several days.

He made his apologies, promising to find his husband before he floated off.

When he arrived at the elevator banks and rode one up to their penthouse.  The metal doors swooped open to reveal Mercy - arms full of banker boxes, her usual shades concealing her gaze.

"Hello, Kal-El," she greeted simply, stepping aside to let him off.  

"Have you seen Lex?" asked Kal as he alighted.  "His people are looking for him..."

"Yes, I was just with him," she answered, moving to hold the door open with her tip of pumps.  "He's been in the old labs all week, visiting Jor-El."  She paused, her tilting slightly.  "Are you injured?"

"What? Oh, this?" he replied, pointing at his side.  "Nah."  Mercy said nothing and slipped into the elevator car.  She nodded a goodbye as the door closed around her.

His curiosity - trumping his desire for a shower and a nap - led him to Lena's personal office where he found the personal elevator door open.  Kal stopped short, his toes at the precipice.  He held his breath and entered, his lungs on fire as he held it all the way down.  The doors open and Kal zoomed out - the corridors a blur as he used his speed to traverse the halls towards his parents' room.   He heard the sounds of a soft conversation floating through the observation window.  He could make out the white boarded - turned black by the sheer number of calculations scribbled across its surface.  Kal entered and found Lex and Jor-El sitting at a workstation table, surrounded by banker boxes, accordion files, and binders.

"...then, these DNA sequences should work," he heard Lex comment as Kal stepped gingerly around a tower of data pads.

" _Alexander_ ," he said firmly, arms crossed over his chest and feet planted firmly on the ground. 

Slowly, his husband turned to look at him.  He looked terrible - eyes framed by dark circles, chin dotted with auburn stubble.

"H-hey there," he greeted nervously, causing Kal to wrinkle his nose at the scent of stale coffee beef jerky. The projection of his father tittered softly before flickering away.  He his attention back to his husband:

" _Alexander Luthor_ , are you planning on going to work today?"

"Well, no.  Not really," Lex returned, scrubbing at his red-tinged eyes with the heel of one hand, while the other gesturing at the mess that was the room.   "We're reviewing Lionel's old genetic research,  _darling."_

"Why?" Kal asked, trying very little to keep the frustration from his voice.  "You have tests to complete.  Clients to make happy.  A department to run... People are looking for, you know..."

"What people?"

" _Your_ people, Alexander...!"

"Well, I am working on figuring out how to make us another baby," he confessed.  "And Bruce Wayne can cool his metaphorical jets because we're ahead on schedule with that stupid laser... How _did_ those tests go by the way?"

"Wait, you were serious about that?!" Kal replied, ignoring the question. 

"It might be really nice," he muttered, his thoroughly bitten nails scratching loudly against Lex's stubbly chin.  "Maybe we have a girl this time around..."

Slowly, the corners of Kal's lips quivered as his frown gave way to a faint smile.  

"It would be nice," he returned quietly, images of... "But for now, I think your attention is needed elsewhere..."

"Kal, the company runs itself and this is very important w-" Lex failed to finish his protest as Kal's fingers slipped beneath of his rumpled tie.  He scrambled onto his feet as his husband pulled him forward.

"Not as important getting clean," growled Kal. "And definitely not if you want what comes after..."

~~~

She walked until the soles of her shoes began to talk.  For four days, Lana hiked along the interstate to the state lines, until a truck driver gave her a lift to a truck stop outside of Cincinnati.  She begged - berated herself for ignoring others forced to do the same in the past - and received enough small change to buy herself a cup of coffee at the McDonald's.  Lana watched the people come-and-go for awhile, nursing her coffee as considered what to do next until she retreated to the restroom.

After a sink bath and a few minutes under the hand dryer, Lana felt refreshed - as refreshed as she could.  She exited, pocketing a few plastic knives into her dress pocket before leaving the restaurant and taking a seat on the curb, where she decided to size up patrons for another ride.

"You okay?"

She looked up and found a woman staring at her - her dark brown mop, cut into a severe-looking bang fanning out across her forehead.  There was a well-worn leather bag slung across her chest with an ID badge clipped to the side of it.  She wore a cheap blouse and even-cheaper pencil skirt that did little to conceal the run in her stockings or distract from her worn-out sneakers or the mustard stain on her hem.  Lana had spent days on the road and felt the need to take pity on her.

"I'll be even better if you are heading east?" Lana replied, her hand wrapping around the plastic knife in her pocket. 

"How far east?" the woman asked, tilting her head.

"Gotham," she replied, her tone even.  "Metropolis is good too."

"That I can do," the woman answered, gesturing at her to follow.  Lana's hand wrapped around a plastic knife in her pocket.  They found her car - the inverse of its owner - was gleaming, red convertible.

"Climb in," the woman offered, pulling the door open for Lana before crossing around back to the trunk .

Lana scrambled inside, her body sinking into the plush, leather interior.  The woman appeared again by her door, resting a gym bag squarely in her lap without warning. 

"Clean gym clothes and some flip-flops," the woman said. "Change first, then we'll leave."  She closed the door and walked away, leaving Lana to it.

~~~

"Hey, get up!" Kon heard someone shouting above him.  "We got a surprise for you!"  He cracked open a single, bleary eye and found Jason looming over him from the side of his bed.  He was dressed in his vigilante uniform - red domino wrinkling as he grinned down at him.

"W-wha-" 

"We want you outside on the back lawn in fifteen," he ordered. "So, take a shower, brush your teeth, wear something nice - all that good shit, okay?"

Kon stared at him for a moment, his mind a jumble of scattered thoughts as he processed what was happening.

"I... I can do it in five?" he offered after awhile. 

"Even better!" Jason chirped.  "I'll be right outside your door."

Jason left and Kon slipped out of his bed.  He yawned, stretching tall to cast off the last strands of sleep before zipping into his bathroom. 

Shower.  Teeth.  Lotion.  Hair.  Clothing.  Sneakers.  Cologne. 

He achieved it all in record time and found Jason waiting for him as promised when he opened the door.  He followed Jason through the house, crossing through the french doors off the sun-room to the rose garden outside.  The sun hovered above the horizon, its dying rays feeding his solar starved cells.

"Where is everyone?"

"The girls are out on patrol," he replied without look up from his phone. "Bruce and Alfred are out of town for a few days.  Damian is staying with Dick."

Kon nodded.  Fragments of sleep-addled memory began to piece themselves together in his mind. 

"And Tim?"  A small, hard lump formed in the back of his throat when he said Tim's name.  Kon wanted to apology for his behavior yesterday. 

"Waiting on us!" Jason declared as their destination came into view.  "Oh, one more thing?"

"W-where?"

"Somewhere cool but top secret," he teased, wagging a gloved finger in his direction.  "So, we're using code names only. Including you, _Superboy_."

Kon wrinkled his nose but whether it was at Jason's insinuation that he could not keep a secret (Well, to be honest, he did not keep it secret that he knew the Waynes were Batman, Inc. but still...!) or his newly dubbed "superhero handle," he was not entirely sure.

"S-Superboy?" he countered incredulously, folding his arms over his chest.  "That's sounds _basic_."

Jason shrugged.  He produced an extra domino from jacket pocket and tossed it at him. Kon caught it mid-step, turning the mask over his hands before pressing it against his face before trundling after Jason.  They soon arrived at a suspiciously dark pool house.  He shifted his apprehensive gaze between the pitch-black windows and Jason, who was furiously texting someone.

Kon was about to ask what in Rao's Name they were doing, when Jason raised his free arm, pointing in the direction of the doorway.  He stared, narrowing his eyes against the glare caught in the window's reflections. At first, he thought it was a trick of the very same light but then, the something began to move.  The reflection in the window pane began to swirl like smudged paint, distorting the image of the bay and part of the frame.  And it continued to swirl and to grow, revealing a glowing, ethereal whirlpool. 

"W-what is that?!" he shouted, pulling slightly against Jason's grip.

"That's our ride!" the older teen announced, cutting him off.  He looped his arm around Kon's shoulders.  "Let's go!"

"Go where?!" Kon half-shrieked but Jason had already lead him into the portal and into oblivion. 

 ~~~

Her name was Lois.  She worked for the Daily Planet as a reporter and her assignments were "top of the fold" until she ate Perry White's danish one fateful morning.  Her sports car was a gift from a pushy suitor by the name of Oliver Green but made it very clear that was all she was taking.  And, if someone named "Jimmy" forgot her morning coffee order one more time, she was going to hurl him into Hobb's River.

Lana enjoyed her silence, listening to the woman ramble on as they cruised down the road.

"Had to cover a hick town pie festival as penance," Lois chuckled, her dark brown bangs falling into her eyes. "All this over a damn breakfast pastry..."

"But a pie festival sounds nice?" offered Lana.  

"Sounding nice and being nice are very different," Lois groused, pulling an empty, rumpled pack of gum from her ratty bag, shoveling several sticks into her mouth.  Her shapely jaw chewed furiously, filling the car with crude, sloppy chomping like a cow's cud.

"Smoker?" Lana asked, trying to suppress a laugh.  "Have you tried the patches?"

"And therapy, hypnotism, acupuncture, vaping..." Lois replied silkily.  "If someone would just straight inject nicotine into my veins, that would be great, er - I don't think I've stopped talking enough to get your name?"

In this moment, Lana sat paralyzed by a choice: to tell the entire truth, part of it, or none of it at all.  From her reclined view, she could see the telecomm cables hypnotically rushing by overhead as she considered her next actions. 

Lana removed her hands from her pocket, folding them on her stomach.

"I'm... I'm sort of in transition..." Her tongue felt like concrete - leaving her mouth dry and her words crumbling faster than she could form them.  "...from a bad situation."

She looked at Lois from the corner of her eye.  She also sat, her brown eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.  Lois frowned.

"Were they...abusive?" she asked.  "Is that why you were hiking across America?"

"Yeah," Lana... "And he was - _is_ \- a really rich, really connected sort-of guy.  So, do you mind if I called myself-"

Like a glass crashing on the floor, the word came into her mind - just as violently, just as broken. 

_"Pete..."_

~~~

Kal was a sleep.

 _Of course, he is_ , Lex mused to himself.  _After that performance..._

He pulled the sheet over his beloved's shoulder, placing a kiss on his nape.  Kal stirred - his plush lips murmuring sweet nonsense before falling still as he began to snore.

There was a knock at the door.  Lex climbed out of bed.  He reached for his robe, pulling it on as several more knocks landed against his door.  He cursed under his breath, Lex cast a quick look at his husband to make sure he was still sleeping before hurrying over to scold his late night visitor.  Lex pulled it open and saw his reflection in Mercy's shades.

"Sir," she said quietly.  "Your sister just called."

"Finally," he murmured.  "Is she-"

"She is well but she said that-" the woman paused, wrapping her arms around herself before continuing:  "Lena said she's bringing back a _guest_..."

Lex wrinkled his brow as Mercy suddenly went quiet, her red lips slightly quivering as she formed the words:

"Lena says that there was another Kryptonian that she found in lab under the house..."

His stomach sank to his knees.  Lex took hold of the frame, steadying himself.

"What?!" he hissed.  He quieted immediately as the sound of the sheeting shifting.  Lex grabbed her arm with more force than he thought he ever could, pulling her into the hall and shutting the door behind them.  " _You_ said Kal and Kon were the _only_ other victims!"

"Alexander, please,"  she begged.  "We had no idea this poor girl existed until now-"

"A _girl_?!  A female kryptonian?!"  

Mercy nodded, removing her shades and clutching them between faintly trembling hands.  Lex saw that her eyes were slightly glassy.

"Lionel had so many secrets," she continued.  "No _one_ could keep up."

"Or make him stop," Lex seethed.  Mercy said nothing.  A painful truth wedged between them and he sucked his teeth.

"So, what do we do?" he asked.

"The girl isn't well.  Lena had me already dispatch the nearest team," she explained.  "She managed to stabilize her and they are transferring them now.  They should be flying over Central City in ten..."

Lex said nothing.  He quickly looked back at Kal, who continued to sleep soundly.

"Dispatch our medi-bay teams immediately," he ordered.  Mercy nodded and stalked off just as the the sound of sheets rustling caught his ear.

"W-who was that?" Kal asked, his voice slightly cracking from sleep.  Lex sighed, shutting the door.

"We need to talk..."


End file.
